


The Puzzle

by nimlothemeli (mybigfatcat)



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Gore, Drama, Eventual Smut, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Written in 2011-2012, repost from lj, unbetaed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:28:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 172,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mybigfatcat/pseuds/nimlothemeli
Summary: A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself andCaptainDegenerate.
Relationships: Akanishi Jin/Kamenashi Kazuya, Nishikido Ryo/Ueda Tatsuya
Comments: 13
Kudos: 10





	1. Mysterious Patterns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/) (a.k.a. Rika). I am going to attempt to re-upload the entire story as soon as possible, but since it is very long, and has 26 chapters, it will probably take some time. Please be patient with me 💜🙏
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Note:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _\- December 6th, 2011_

.

**Chapter 1 - Mysterious Patterns**

Okay, so this wasn’t one of Kazuya’s greatest ideas, but everything was worth a shot (at least that was what he always told himself when stuff didn’t go as he had planned). Sliding down a muddy slope on his ass getting his newly bought brand jeans dirty wasn’t anything like what he had planned, but it was still exciting. There was only a few yards left until he could get close to his desired goal, the scene of the ultimate human foolishness; murder.

The police had fenced the area, but that didn’t stop a slim and agile Kazuya from climbing it and landing on his two feet at the other side. Some thoughtful soul had left white overalls in a small tent and Kazuya quickly geared up before he headed out on the dotted paths, avoiding to trample what could be important evidence. He could tell by the smell in the air that he was close now, the sour taste of smoke mixed with wet grass filling his mouth and burning his nostrils. The black spot in the grey gravel appeared before him in the flickering light of his flashlight, making him stop and take in the fascinating scene with his eyes.

The pictures on his computer screen started haunting him and he quickly snapped out of his awe, stepping cautiously on marked paths, walking up to the place were someone had burned another person beyond recognition. Just giving it a quick glance he continued passed the scene of the crime heading towards a concrete wall not far from it.

The police had taken pictures of the surroundings, but declared that the paintings on the wall was markings made by the brats that usually used this place as their hideout. Kazuya begged to differ, because in that pattern he saw something that he would’ve thought that any intelligent being would pick up on, he saw something completely different than kids running back and forth with spray cans. Standing there looking at it he sighed and let his head hang, he had lost all hope in the police solving this case. The answer was so obvious, just as he had guessed while sitting in front of his computer a few hours ago; bull’s-eye.

-

Jin was driving towards the crime scene he had left just a few hours ago to transport the body and evidence to the police station. His fingers tapped the wheel in rhythm with ”Bad Romance” which was on the radio. He tried to sing along but stumbled frequently, his mind being too occupied with the something bothering him in the place they had found the body that day.

It was a devastating murder, brutal and skilfully planned out. The murders Jin had investigated before had been haphazard and spontaneous, committed when drunk or related to the endless gang wars going on in Tokyo. The motive was always money, jealousy or power. But this one was different. No finger prints nor other evidence. They had searched the whole crime scene time after time, feverishly looking for hair, fiber or anything else to give them even the slightest hint considering the perpetrator's identity, just to face the lack of avail.

Jin, however, wasn't convinced about the fact that the murderer had left nothing after himself. Something had caught his eye when he was exploring the crime scene and even though his working hours were already over, he couldn't fight the urge to return to have another look. He had spotted a bunch of weird patterns on a concrete wall near the body. The other police officers had disregarded it, assuming it was done by teenagers who they evicted from the place every now and then for the youth of Tokyo seemed to enjoy drinking there. The patterns had been sprayed on the wall, after all.

But Jin didn't agree. A murder such as that, there was simply no way the murderer wouldn't leave anything behind. He had studied old cases like this, the perpetrator always left a message just to piss the police off, to show his superiority proven by leaving behind nothing but a message, practically saying ”in your face, bitches”.

Jin stopped his car on the side of the road and stepped out, delving out a pair of rubber gloves from his pocket. He then turned on his flashlight and started his journey towards the crime scene. Jin tried his best to act like a total professional and ignore the stinging smell floating into his nostrils, proving that a corpse had lain there until just a few hours ago, but found it harder and harder with each step he took.

Jin could see the twin for the light coming from his torch from afar. He frowned and hastened the pace. He hadn't seen other cars near the area. All his colleagues had been in the police station when he left so the only option left was that the person observing something in the crime scene a dozen meters away was an outsider. Or... Jin stopped abruptly. Or the murderer himself, getting rid of some evidence he had accidentally left there.

Jin turned off the flashlight, wincing at the clicking sound. The person ahead didn't seem to notice him. Jin snuck over to the fence separating the crime scene and hopped over it, landing as smoothly as possible. He ran lightly towards the boy as far as he dared before slowing down and tiptoeing the rest of the way until he was just a fair meter away. Jin took in a silent breath and after that tackled the potential murderer down with one, rapid movement.

-

Hitting the ground with something that weighed more like a ton above him wasn’t a thing Kazuya had expected to experience this night. At the most he had imagined that he’d conclude that the police were idiots and that he was right and then he’d walk away calling in an anonymous tip the day after. He panicked and tried to wriggle away from the attacker but was held in place as the other sat down on his back grabbing a hold of his hands while he was cuffing him. The clicking sounds of the handcuffs made him snap out of his panicked state, putting his mind at ease; at least it wasn’t the murderer.

“You idiot! Get off me!” he hissed, trying not to sound like he had just gotten scared to death.

Instead of an answer he felt the other grabbing a hold of him hoisting him up on his feet only to be blinded by a flashlight pointed straight to his face. ‘Great’, he thought, ‘muddy jeans, probably a few broken bones and now he was made blind by an idiot police officer’. This really wasn’t one of his greatest ideas.

-

Jin ignored the other's order to get off and reached out for his flashlight after dragging him up and making sure the handcuffs were securely fastened around the slim wrists. He repeated the mantra he had told countless people since he entered the work life as a police officer while switching on the source of light and pointing it towards the potential murderer's face.

”You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can be use- You?”

Jin recognized the boy immediately. It was Ueda's, one of his colleague’s, cousin. The pride of their family, topping the entrance exams of the university he had applied to a couple of years ago (Ueda never got tired of bragging about it). The name was Kamenashi Kazuya, if he wasn't mistaken. Ueda had a picture of himself and the boy in his office and Jin had stopped to take a look at it a couple of times more than socially acceptable. The boy was, after all, eye-candy for even a straight guy like Jin.

But eye-candy or not, it didn't undo the fact that this boy was sneaking around a crime scene without permission.

“What on Earth is a kid like you doing here?”

“None of your business!” the boy answered looking ready to bite his head off, “and I’m no kid, thank you very much!”

“I’m the officer in charge of this murder investigation, of course it’s my god damn business if an outsider comes here to mess up the evidence. Thank your luck for being related to Ueda, otherwise you’d be on your way to the police station at the moment, being the prime suspect.” Jin talked exaggeratedly slow, emphasizing every word with an annoyed tune.

“So, let me ask you once again, what are you doing here?”

“How do you know Ueda exactly?”

“We’re colleagues. Lucky for you, he’s so fond of you he has even a picture of you in his office. Would you mind finally giving me the pleasure of knowing what the fuck you’re doing here?” Jin asked while gritting his teeth. If there was something he hated, it was nosy and obnoxious kids, and this boy was a textbook example.

“Well, I got a bit interested in the patterns on the wall, that’s all. I made sure not to step on something important, up until you threw me to the ground that is.”

“You’re not an expert, there’s no way you’d know what’s important and what is not.” Jin retreated the light from Kazuya’s face to scan briefly over the crime scene. It looked the same as during the day alright, but one footstep landed on a wrong place could ruin it all.

“You don’t need to be an expert to walk on the marked paths and wear smocks to prevent you from polluting crime scenes! What do you take me for; an idiot?!”

Jin raised his eyebrows. “Well, I don’t consider it too smart either to go wandering around a crime scene. Be thankful I’m not going to report this to the station. Go home, kiddo, I’ve got work to do.”

“And you’re not in the least interested in why I was so keen on seeing the patterns, the ones I mysteriously know about in a matter of hours after the police started typing their report? God, I’m actually wondering if they even gave you guys an education...”

Jin’s brain started to process what he had just heard and after a time that seemed torturing long for Kazuya, he got what the boy was going for. His eyes snapped wide and he gave Kazuya a furious look, not even trying to hide the fact it was the first time he gave it a thought.

“How did you know about the patterns?”

“Not important, the thing that is important Mr. “My sweet cousin Ueda’s supposed colleague” is that no one has filed anything about this pattern and that really proves that you are idiots.”

The officer stood silent for a while, trying to find something witty to say. Kazuya was seriously pissing him off.

“The name is Akanishi Jin. And for your information, I was just on my way to take a closer look at those patterns but instead ended up babysitting you.”

“I’m not sure I want to know what you consider babysitting if it involves throwing people to the ground and cuffing them, but I guess we all have our personal preferences... So, has the brilliant Akanishi figured out why he finds these patterns so intriguing that he returns in the middle of the night to look at them?”

The brilliant Akanishi was getting close to the point where he could just have punched the boy in order to shut that smartass mouth. The fact that he had no idea what the patterns meant didn’t ease his irritation the least.

“Well, I would’ve figured out by now if you weren’t here. You’re distracting me!” Jin winced mentally at how childish he must have sounded just now.

“Hah! Okay, I’ll give up this time since you so eloquently convinced me to share my discoveries with you” Kazuya answered, giving him a fake smile, “I would’ve called it in later anyway. You see, there’s a pattern to how the waves rise and fall, if I apply Morse code to that pattern it spells out a message.”

“Morse code looks nothing like that. What do they teach in schools nowadays?” Jin rolled his eyes.

The boy stared momentarily at him like he had seen a ghost before he started talking once again with a cold voice.

“I know that it doesn’t look like Morse code! That’s the whole point with it being a secret message, it wouldn’t be any fun to leave it in plain language!”

“Well what does it say, then?” For a moment the officer looked like he was actually interested in the theory before remembering to put on his sceptical mask again.

“It’s the address to the train station by the baseball stadium.”

The cop had had enough. It hurt his pride he had heard the boy out even this long. What Kazuya was saying was just stupid. Well, what did he expect of someone raised by TV and the Internet?

“Listen now, kiddo, that’s way too far-fetched. Go home and play detective by yourself. I have more important things to do than to listen to your nonsense.”

“Then uncuff me so I can go there and find out what the murderer wanted myself!”

“You’ll find nothing there.”

“Oh yeah? Prove me wrong then!”

Jin observed the boy who was staring at him with a challenging expression and smiled smugly.

“I might just take you up on that offer.” Yes, it was about time for that arrogant brat to learn his lesson.

-

This nightly adventure was incredibly enough just getting worse and worse. Kazuya couldn’t remember the last time he had been manhandled to this extent, feeling the bruises form all over his delicate skin. At least he had gotten the police on the right track, that was a good deed indeed, but he was still caught in a car with a stupid brute heading to town wearing his completely mud-soaked jeans and a pair of handcuffs.

Kazuya made a mental note to force Ueda to tell him all of Akanishi’s dark secrets. No one got him on his stomach for them without getting a suitable punishment and this certain police officer deserved to have his useless head cut off.

Though he had to admit it was a pretty handsome head Akanishi possessed. The body wasn’t all that bad either, just toned enough, not to the point of making him look macho. He didn’t look like a cop either with his long black hair up in a ponytail, silver earring in one of his ears and black leather jacket over white T-shirt.

Straightening his black rimmed glasses he reached out to place his hands over the hot air outlet, warming his stiff fingers.

Jin turned the volume of the radio as loud as it would go to cover the tense silence swelling inside the car. He silently sang along to every song he knew and every now and then glanced briefly at Kazuya from the corner of his eye just to see him still warming his cuffed hands with a sulking expression on.

What was up with the boy anyway? Sneaking around crime scenes creating absurd theories. And how did he gain access to the information regarding the case in the first place? Jin made a note to himself to question Ueda later on about this boy.

Jin still didn't get how the pattern could possibly spell out the address to some train station. Well, of course it didn't, but he didn't get how the boy had come up with something like that. Maybe it was the young enthusiasm. Needless to say, Kazuya would be wrong and Jin would laugh arrogantly once he would get to prove it.

Still the officer shifted nervously on his seat when the train station came closer and closer. One tiny part of his brain was worried. What if the boy was right after all and he would make a complete fool out of himself? Jin stubbornly pushed those thoughts aside. It was obvious they wouldn't find anything from the train station. He would walk in, come back empty-handed and rub it in Kazuya's face a little. Well, a little more than a little.

Jin tried to act as cool and composed as possible as he finally parked the car in front of the train station.

”You stay here. This won't take long.” The man made an attempt to sound indifferent even though he was constantly mentally slapping himself for being nervous. He made sure to lock the doors of his civilian police car to prevent Kazuya from escaping his smug comments waiting ahead.

-

Kazuya was not claustrophobic, not in the least, it was just that he would rather be home reading profiles on serial killers. That was what he told himself anyway. He hadn’t expected Akanishi to lock him inside the car, he would’ve thought that the man would want Kazuya to be there when they opened the locker, just so he could rub the fail in his face. But instead he was stuck here, missing the look on that idiot’s face when he opened the locker and found what Kazuya supposed was the victims clothes and maybe a wallet or a cell phone.

Minutes passed and he was almost falling asleep in the chilly car, huddled up in the big seat, when the police arrived at the scene. Blue lights and sirens cutting through the dark night air.

A triumphant smile spread from his lips to his eyes and it stayed there until Jin came walking back towards the black car talking to a young officer in uniform. They said something, laughed and then they parted after the young man patted Jin’s back; a gesture that made Kazuya see red.

As happy as he was that the police now were a step closer to catching the criminal he had rather liked it to be on account of an anonymous tip, not because that idiot had stumbled across him on the crime scene. Triumphant smile turned to a sour one.

It didn’t feel better when the detective gave him an irritated look either, Kazuya had helped them, he deserved praise, not a lecture. The still quiet man started the car and left the parking lot driving away from the city center. With the radio turned up high and exotic American music blasting through the car, Jin started humming along, soon singing out loud.

He had been singing when they drove to the train station as well and Kazuya had to admit that he possessed a really good voice. What surprised him the most was his clear pronunciation, that was something Kazuya never managed to learn. He knew the language alright, but the words still made his tongue feel bloated and stiff in his mouth.

While staring at his mud soaked, jeans clad knees, Kazuya listened to the music, letting it wash away his frustration. It didn’t last long though, worries and reason catching up with him.

Where was he taking him anyway? Not to the police station because then they wouldn’t go in this direction. It wasn’t until the car pulled up on a painfully familiar street that the realization hit him; he was going to drop him off with Ueda.

Sure enough, the car was soon parked outside the small house Ueda shared with his boyfriend and Kazuya found himself being led by his cuffed hands to the front door. His cousin looked more then surprised at seeing the officer outside his door and he looked like he was going to faint when Kazuya stuck his head out from behind the broad shouldered man.

“Kazuya?!”

“I’d appreciate if someone, anyone, kept a close eye at this little brat. Okay?” Jin said in a voice Kazuya imagined he usually used giving orders.

“Hey, who’s the idiot coming in the middle of the night!?”

An angry man wearing nothing but his boxers came walking down the hallway, stepping out past Ueda, facing the two nightly intruders standing outside the door.

“Oh, it’s you Jin, what brings you here?”

“Can you stop sucking up? He’s brought Kazu-chan here, at three o’clock in the morning!” Ueda hissed, pulling the short man back inside.

Before anyone got the chance of forcing Jin to speak, said man unlocked Kazuya’s cuffs and walked back to the car, being a few blocks away by the time Ueda and Ryo had stopped their quarrelling.

“So, can I stay here tonight?” Kazuya asked before shutting the door behind him.

-

“So, it wasn’t you after all. Well I should’ve known that since you’re too stupid to conclude anything that complicated yourself.”

Jin shot Pi an irritated glare before stuffing a slice of pizza into his mouth. Everyone had been congratulating him the whole day and the officer found it really uncomfortable. Of course he hadn’t told anyone that the discovery wasn’t made by him but by a university kid. Well, anyone besides Pi.

What made him most uncomfortable was the fact that Kazuya had been right. Jin had found the victim’s belongings in one of the lockers which had a post-it with Jin’s name on it attached to the door. The murderer was obviously making fun of him.

“Shut up. At least we know the victim’s identity now.”

The victim was Endo Daisuke, a 39-year-old priest who had been reported missing just hours before the estimated time of death. Why would anyone want to murder a priest? This murderer was definitely not like the others. The case was getting really exciting.

“How did that Kamenashi know about the patterns anyway?” Pi slurped his noodles annoyingly loud into his mouth. Jin gazed him with a disgusted expression and also the other people in the lunch café of the police station turned their heads to give him a look.

“I don’t know. Ueda reassured me he hasn’t given that brat any details. But to think that he actually invaded the crime scene just out of curiosity...”

“If he managed to solve the patterns all by himself, he has to be rather smart. Let him join the investigation if he wants to.” From the tone of his best friend’s voice Jin could tell he was half-serious about letting Kazuya meddle in. He sighed and smacked Pi’s head.

“As if I could do that, you moron. And I wouldn’t even if I could, it’s bad enough I’ve let him surpass me once. Listening to his wise-ass comments would drive me crazy in a matter of hours.”

Pi shrugged halfheartedly but his eyes had a knowing twinkle. Even though Jin tried to act as if Kazuya pissed him off awfully much, Pi had seen through him: the officer actually kind of liked the boy.

-

It irritated him that he hadn’t any classes to go to. At least a good old fashioned lecture about economics or psychology would’ve prevented his mind from wandering, now he was stuck in Ueda’s house with Ryo as the only company.

The short police officer had a day off and had promised his boyfriend to keep an eye on Kazuya, something he didn’t seem to like very much. As a matter of fact he seemed to hate it because whatever Kazuya did the other was there watching him with narrow eyes, asking all sorts of questions designed to make even the most thick skinned person burst out in tears, confessing to anything they had been accused of.

If that was the way police solved crimes these days, with brute force, Kazuya wasn’t very surprised that they had dismissed the patterns, not surprised at all. Irritation gave way for anger when he remembered that nights adventures and Ueda’s refusal to tell him anything about the discoveries that Jin had made.

Somewhere between emptying his bladder and leaving the bathroom his curiosity and anger got the best of him. Moments later he had crawled out through the bathroom window, sneaked in through the front door, put on his shoes and left for the train station; Ryo still sitting in the living room wondering how long the boy would stay in the toilet.

After asking a very young looking police officer where he might find the great twat himself, he was directed to the upper floors of the building, further instructed by a sweet looking woman to the end of a hallway. Reading Jin’s name on the name plate, pondering how on earth the brute could be called Jin as in “humanity”, he knocked the door.

The only answer was something close to a grunt, almost comically befitting the man, and Kazuya supposed it was alright to enter. It took him a few seconds to spot him, sitting covered in an old, worn out blanket on an equally worn out sofa at the right side corner of the room. Hadn’t he been home since last night? Had he seriously been on shift since at least yesterday afternoon when the victim was found (and Kazuya suspected long before that)?

His thoughts got interrupted by the fact that the blanket started moving, revealing a confused looking man with puffy eyes and a red spot on his cheek where he had rested his head against his arm. Seeing Kazuya, however, got him fully awake in seconds.

“You again! Didn’t I tell Ueda to keep you out of my way?” Jin looked at Kazuya with an expression filled with fury and annoyance. In the depths of his heart he was also a little bit interested. What made the boy approach him again?

“He delegated, Ryo isn’t really smart you know. If I were you I wouldn’t give him any seriously important jobs.”

The officer rolled his eyes. “I should’ve known we can’t trust that guy. Well, what do you want from me?”

Kazuya found himself frowning, straightening his glasses while pondering exactly why he was here. It wasn’t like he really knew that, this was one of those things he did based on pure intuition. Appearing thoughtless and unprepared in front of Akanishi however wasn’t his sentiment.

“Getting my well earned brief on what you found in that locker” he answered, which wasn’t completely false.

Jin pondered for a while. He was an honest man and in the matter of fact actually felt kind of guilty for taking all the glory for a discovery that wasn’t his.

“What do you want in exchange?” he finally asked.

The question threw Kazuya completely off track. What would he want in return? And then it hit him, the true reason behind him ending up in Jin’s office.

“I want full access to the next crime scene this killer leaves behind him and to all the files concerning it.”

“What makes you think this killer will strike again?” Jin observed Kazuya with his eyebrows raised.

“Well, this was far too planned and thought through to be a random hate crime, I’ve been reading up on serial killer profiling in my free time and this is like a textbook example of a serial killer behaviour. This killer intrigues me, besides, if I hadn’t told you about the pattern you’d still be trying to find out who the corpse belongs to. Let me in on the next one.”

Jin snorted. “Sure, I’ll let you join the investigation when the next victim is discovered. Except for the fact that there won’t be another victim. Come on, kid, this isn’t the fucking CSI.” Jin laid back on his couch and turned to his side, leaving Kazuya to face his back.

Angrier than he’d ever been in his entire life, Kazuya stormed out of the office almost knocking down a pile of files. Oh there would be another killing he thought, he was sure of it.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	2. Graffiti Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/) (a.k.a. Rika). I'm attempting to re-upload this story as rapidly as possible, but since it is quite long and I'm going to have to format a lot of text it's going to take a while. Please be patient with me 💜🙏 Here comes the second chapter!
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _\- January 28th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 2 - Graffiti Panic**

The familiar humming sound of his two stationary computers calmed him down more than anything else could. Placing his already fully awake laptop on his desk in the narrow space between four computer screens, he watched as they blinked to life running scripts and loading software. There was a reason no one other than him would ever be allowed to use his masterpieces, mainly it was because they wouldn’t even know how to handle them but it was also because they would find out what he did with them.

Okay, there was no porn on them and he wasn’t hacking the Pentagon, it wasn’t that kind of creepy behaviour. This was something that had started years ago when he realized that his intelligence made it possible to actually understand the computer languages used in the common operative systems, he could visualise codes like he was watching the television.

It wasn’t until recently that he had started using his skills in this way, which didn’t help the fact that it was a big dark secret; a secret that he had partly revealed to Akanishi. Though said man didn’t even seem to catch up on the clues that lay before him, Kazuya was actually pondering if he had ever met a more clueless person in his entire life.

Then he remembered that birthday party Ueda threw for Ryo half a year ago,. There had been a tall and skinny lab rat amongst the guest, constantly smiling, now and then shouting something about entering and leaving his Taguchi. Kazuya didn’t even want to know what that had meant by that. Or maybe he did.

The login screen forced him back to reality and a few minutes later he was briefing through the file of the case Akanishi had just hours ago denied him access to. So he hadn’t really needed to get the information from the police officer himself, but something urged him to demand it anyway. All in all it was a smart move because next time there was a killing he would gain direct access to the crime scene and there was nothing better than studying a case while it was still hot (so to speak).

His eyes snapped open with surprise as he let his gaze sweep over the screen, the victim was not the kind of victim he had been suspecting. When it came to serial killers they were often addressing something personal in their choices of victims. If the killer picked a priest for his first try then was this some sort of personal vendetta against the Catholic church Or had this clergyman scorned the wrong parishioner?

Trying to find something that could be a possible motive he let the file stay open on one screen as he started googling the man’s name aimlessly on another, trying to get a match. He got some that seemed relevant at first but proved to be three versions of the same newspaper article talking about an annual fair in the little suburban area he seemed to have resided in. It was at least worth a try he thought.

Changing tactics completely he found out at what address the church was, feeling almost blissful when he redid the search on the second screen again, finding out that the church had a homepage. Wrinkling his nose while concentrating he managed to get into the server they used and found out that they had all their files on the same server. Lady Luck seemed to smile down upon him today.

Or maybe she didn’t because there was not as much as a left over crumble of interesting information there. Besides a list of members in the church there were documents from their auditors and different bills and paychecks, nothing that said anything about who the priest was. Kazuya would have to go find out himself, If he was lucky maybe he found out something the police couldn’t.

Turning off his dear companions before putting his laptop in his satchel bag and grabbing the copy of the map, marked with the priest’s address he had printed out, he left his apartment and headed for the subway.

-

What if the brat named Kamenashi was right after all and he would be forced to swallow his pride? That thought had been circling in Akanishi Jin’s mind for the whole day. Of course he knew that Kazuya’s discovery had just been due to the boy’s over-the-top enthusiasm and Jin’s own inability to pick up the pieces left before his eyes, combined with the luck shamelessly favoring Kazuya. But now Jin was back in the game and his brain worked just as sharply as one would expect of the officer in charge.

Luckily, Jin wasn’t the kind of guy who kept thinking too hard. He had almost managed to shrug off the unpleasant tingle in his stomach as the day went on. He was on his way to receive the report of the autopsy from Horikita Maki, the pathologist of their department. Jin always felt uneasy when he had to deal with that woman. She was weird, creepy and never failed to give Jin the vibes with her almost obsessive fascination with corpses.

Jin opened the heavy glass door leading to the morgue, instantly wincing at the smell of rotten flesh and, probably thanks to their latest victim, burnt skin. Horikita was sitting at the end of the hallway, absent-mindedly browsing some files and every now and then smiling to herself. She had headphones on her ears, a daring move Jin could never imagine doing while in touch with corpses. They were dead alright, but he had read too many stories about people coming back to life while lying in a body bag.

Jin strode towards the woman, hearing the creepy music echoing through the headphones when nearing the end of the hallway. Being creepy in person wasn’t enough for Horikita, he also had to listen to that alien music of hers. It was something called Björk, whose latest album had been Horikita’s obsession for some months. The background had been created by recording the sound of the rotation of the crust of earth, or some weird shit like that.

Jin stopped before the young pathologist and cleared his throat. The woman showed no reaction whatsoever, didn’t even raise her gaze from the files that appeared to be photos Horikita had taken during the autopsy of their burnt friend.

“Horikita.” The said person hummed the strange melody she was listening to, still not noticing the impatient police officer.

“Hey, Horikita!” This time Jin dared to actually nudge her shoulder lightly. Being nudged like that while wearing headphones in a place like this would surely send Jin off the chair with a terrified scream. The pathologist, however, wasn’t startled at the least but calmly took the headphones off before standing up and bowing towards Jin. Horikita’s relaxed attitude when in the morgue was another reason Jin was kind of afraid of her.

“Akanishi” she greeted with her colourless, clear voice.

“The report of Endo Daisuke’s autopsy.” Jin reached his hand out. Horikita placed the file in his hand without a hurry.

“The cause of death is surprisingly enough burning. The heat damaged his lungs, in the end preventing him from breathing properly. Also, over seventy percent of his skin is covered with third-degree burns.”

“Only seventy percent? He looked pretty burnt to me.”

Horikita giggled. “Oh yes, he was very burnt. The rest of his body suffered fourth-degree burns.” She pointed out a particularly gruesome picture of a close-up of one of the burns. The officer tried not to make his disgust too visible.

“Any marks of violence or remains of intoxicants or medicine?”

“None. He was just wet with gasoline and set on fire. How boring.” Horikita sighed, as if she was really disappointed by the fact there hadn’t been any violent secrets hidden in the body. Jin neglected the other’s comment, he was pretty used to them by now.

“I wonder why he was set on fire. It’s messy and slow. Stabbing would’ve been easier.” Jin talked more to himself than to Horikita, but the woman smiled as if it was obvious.

“It was clearly a ritual. Maybe he was a sacrifice for some satanic sacrament. At first I was sure he was possessed and set himself on fire but unfortunately the evidence shows otherwise. Pity, it would’ve been thrilling.”

“Thank you for the report, Horikita.” Jin bowed and hurried away. He knew better than debating with the woman about her ridiculous beliefs.

-

“When will you stop slurping? It’s disgusting.”

Pi shrugged and stuffed more noodles into his mouth, sucking them in with a loud noise.

“Have you gotten any further with the investigation about the priest?”

“The murderer left nothing behind. Not a strand of hair or a single fiber, even though we’ve searched through the crime scene at least three times.”

“You know, that Kamenashi would surely help you if you asked...” Yamapi smirked at Jin’s peeved expression.

“Will you stop going on about that brat already? I’ve just succeeded in pushing his arrogant essence off my mind.”

“But you know, the murderer might strike again so maybe you’ll have to deal with the kid once more pretty soon.” Jin had told Pi about the promise he had made with Kazuya earlier and now it came back to haunt him.

“What makes you think that?” Jin’s stubborn defensiveness made Pi utter a laugh.

“Well, considering there seems to be no logic nor motive to the murder and the way the murderer had clearly planned it out skillfully, it’s not completely excluded he’ll commit another crime.”

“He won’t.” This wasn’t some drama where people killed each other like cattle. A murder such as the priest’s case was a once in a lifetime thing. It had to be, otherwise Jin would have to stand for that obnoxious kid’s presence.

-

“Hisamatsu Mari, 19.” A file was slammed down on Jin’s desktop. Jin raised his gaze from Endo Daisuke’s crime report just to see a face with a very unsatisfied expression on, belonging to the foreman of the department, Ando Masanobu.

Jin didn’t get along with the man at all. He hated the way the boss treated his subordinates like some idiots, not to mention him continually sexually harassing his secretary, Kato Koyuki, who was too shy and timid to do anything besides silently asking him to stop.

“What about Hisamatsu Mari, 19?” Jin said dryly and reached for his coffee mug. The coffee was already cold and tasted disgusting but the dark-haired man took a large sip nevertheless. It was a status thing.

“Killed. Found a couple of hours ago, backstage of a strip club.”

“What was she doing in the backstage of a strip club?”

Ando rolled his eyes exaggeratedly slow and knocked his head. “What does a stripper usually do in the backstage of a strip club? Go and check the body out but don’t use too much effort. We have better things to do than using our resources to investigate the murder of some crack whore. But if there’s any signs that the murderer might be the same person that killed that priest, you’ll call me immediately. Got it?”

Jin nodded and made a face at his boss as soon as he turned his back towards him.

-

“Trashy” was the first word on Kazuya’s mind as he walked down the streets towards the documented living address of Endo Daisuke, the priest caught in eternal purgatory. It wasn’t trashy in a way that made him expect to see dealers hanging in alleyways, it was trashy in the way a community could be if no one had cleaned or repaired anything since the block was put up decades ago. He could almost imagine a few kids running towards him on the concrete sidewalk, arguing about who’s time it was playing with their one and only broken down toy. It screamed “poor”.

The few children he really saw were happy enough, but he could only begin to wonder about how the educational system worked in a place like this. Would most of them even graduate high school or would they drop out just so they could help their parents support the younger siblings?

So this was the place where their victim lived, he thought. A place which could be brimming with desperation at any moment, a place of fragile equilibrium.

All of the buildings in the residential area looked the same, grey, rundown, and built in a time when he guessed enthusiasm had gotten a grip of the builders. He could tell by the fading murals of happy playing children etched into the low concrete walls, foundations for higher fences of casted iron now rusty and crumbling.

After a fifteen minute walk, Kazuya stood outside the apartment building he was looking for, the home of the victim. He was only going to take a quick look he reasoned with himself as his conscience tried to make him turn back. He had already trespassed the crime scene so going to the home of the victim couldn’t really be considered “pushing the limits” anymore anyway.

So up he went, dashing as silently as he could up the spiral staircases leading to an external causeway connecting the apartments on the top floor. It was hard moving silently and secretively on the creaking metal but he made his way to the apartment door marked with the priests name and gave the lock a good look before he started getting his picklocks out of his pocket. While pondering which ones to use Kazuya found himself smiling at the thought of Akanishi standing beside him, impatiently hissing that he should hurry up. It nearly made him drop the whole kit.

“Excuse me,” Kazuya heard a cracked and raspy voice say, making him jump at the spot. This time coming even closer to dropping his tools as he quickly stuffed them back into his jeans pocket. It took him a few seconds to collect his breath before he could turn in the direction of the voice.

“Excuse me young man, are you by any chance a friend of dear old Endo?” a wrinkled old lady asked him.

Kazuya stuttered a little but reminded himself that he hadn’t been caught, this was just a mere bump in the road as far as he was concerned.

“Yes, actually, I am. Have you seen him around lately? He seems to have disappeared,” he answered, slowly overcoming the initial bitter taste of his lies as he worked out a plan in his head. This was a golden opportunity, a chance to get some information before the police got it.

“No, he didn’t come home last night, I’m worried myself. He was such a nice man, always making sure I got my newspaper in the morning. You see the boy who hands them out sometimes forgets to come up here to give it to me so Endo usually calls the newspaper’s office when that happens. I don’t blame the young lad for not wanting to get up the stairs, but it’s equally difficult for me getting down them, so Endo thinks it’s quite important that I get it delivered up here...” the old lady went on as she pulled him by the arm towards what he presumed was her apartment.

The smell of old people didn’t bother him much while they were still outdoors but the instant he set his foot inside her hallway he nearly choked. It was an overpowering stench, mostly produced by what he imagined only could be the feces of some animal. An animal species quickly identified as a black cat sprang out from underneath a commode in pure terror as his still shoe clad feet walked inwards into what he could only describe as chaos.

Newspapers, books, rugs, more newspapers, all in a total mess and stained by things he didn’t even want to imagine.

“...and then the woman at the counter told me that I couldn't use that coin anymore since it was bent and they couldn’t hand that to the bank. So I had to walk all the way back here to get my other purse and...”

And this is a total catastrophe he noted while sighing quietly, this woman was not only old and frail but a total nutcase in colloquial terms. There were cats crawling everywhere and as he peeked into the kitchen he was quite sure he saw a cat sitting in the sink while another was urinating on the newspaper cowered floor.

“Mrs Yamada,” he interrupted her eternal bantering, glad he caught her name beside the door as he was pulled in by her, “I’m very glad to hear that the shopping incidental turned out fine in the end, it’s just that I’m still wondering where Endo might be and I want to find him as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, off course, how silly of me... what do you want to know dear boy?” she asked with a toothless smile. Kazuya silently swore to never miss an appointment with his dentist again.

“I just want to know if he did something odd this week, meet people he usually didn’t meet, you know, something that would be suspicious.”

“Endo never did anything suspicious, I thought you should know that being his friend... but then again, you might not have the insight I had. We’ve been neighbours for a long time he and I. His apartment belonged to an retired general before him. Not a bad person at all but he tended to scare my little darlings with his morning marches on the yard... oh yes, Endo... no, nothing suspicious at all. Like always.”

It almost hurt his brain how easily thrown off track she was, but she was the only lead he had this far. So he decided to keep asking, even though he was sure that most of it would turn out to be nonsense.

“What were his usual habits for lets say, a weekday?”

“He would get up early, earlier than me, so about five o’clock. Then he ate breakfast and made sure the newspaper boy did his job... did I tell you abo-”

“Yes, you did Mrs Yamada...”

“Oh right, yes, well, then he’d work, mostly reading and writing and some days he would go out for long runs. He loved exercising, it was probably the only hobby he allowed himself to have outside work. There wasn’t much else for him to do, besides work. It was like he did nothing else, just worked and worked and worked. It’s an admirable trait in a priest, don’t you think?”

“Yes... certainly.”

“He was an excellent speaker and it always lit any occasion up when he took the word. I thin it was because of all the time he spent polishing his speeches, but then again he took almost all of his work with him home. Some weeks there was a thick stream of visitors coming to his doors in need of some advic-”

“Yes, off course, being a priest and all... but how did this community look upon him? He was a man of the church, not a Buddhist monk after all. Any rows when he appeared on festivals, angry crowds, staring monks? Anything?” he asked, getting the old lady back on track.

“No, absolutely nothing. They all appreciated him, at least that’s the last impression I had since I haven’t been out much recent years.”

Great, Kazuya thought as he sighed once more, she hadn’t even been around. At least he had emptied this witness, something the police didn’t seem to think important. It was a victory in his battle against Akanishi, but nothing more. This was almost a total waste of time, excluding the fact that he now knew what an apartment covered in cat feces smelled like.

He was just about to thank the old lady for her trouble and wrench himself out of her grip when he felt that familiar vibration against his chest followed by a soft chime, someone was calling him.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Yamada, but I have to go now, it might be Endo calling!” he shouted as he dashed out, he couldn’t stand another second in there now that he had gotten an excuse to leave. He faintly heard her telling him to check back with her if Endo showed up again... he almost felt sorry for lying to her.

“Yes?!” he asked agitatedly as he started walking back towards the closest subway station.

“It’s Ueda, I think I need you downtown.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s Akanishi, well, it’s about another victim really, but Akanishi told me to call you. So you better get here before he changes his mind. I’m mailing you the address.”

“Okay, right, thanks!” Kazuya answered happily, at least one of his baits had given him a catch.

“Just don’t tell your mom and dad... I can’t stand another lecture Kazuya. I’m not getting labelled as the black sheep of the family again!”

“No, I wont. Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said with a wry smile on his lips, “bye!”

Ueda being openly gay and on top of that being something as low as an mere police officer had surely given his parents a lot of reasons to give him lectures during the years. It was all done with a sense of humor though, never getting serious. No one could really hate Ueda, even though he had gotten himself such a beastly boyfriend.

His chiming phone interrupted him once again as a mail containing the info about the new crime scene arrived. “Cherry Girls - Drinks and Entertainment” he read out loud and instantly wanted to kick Akanishi in the ass.

-

He had been wrong. The brat had been right. He had been- Jin sat down and tried to calm himself down. He didn't know what scared him more, the fact that they were most probably associated with a dawning serial killer or the fact that he would soon have to admit his defeat to that nosy little teenager whose mere essence made Jin want to punch the living lights out him.

But there was no mistake, the murderer had definitely been the same. Jin glanced at the wall close to the victim, who had been strangled to death. It was clearly a message. Of course Jin had tried to solve the strange parroting himself but after a long, useless time of pondering he had eventually given up and called Ueda to inform Kazuya about the case. Of course Jin doubted that the boy would be able to figure out what the message meant but if nothing else, Jin would at least get the pleasure of confirming his knowledge of the boy not being as smart as he seemed to be.

-

Another ride on the subway, another walk down tattered streets, another meeting at a crime scene with Akanishi, though this time planned. The officer on guard at the entrance of the club let him in after he showed him his student ID, but not after giving him an amused look. Rumours about his coming visit seemed to have spread faster than fire in a saw mill. Kazuya wasn’t sure he liked that.

“You called,” he stated looking more or less bored. It had taken a good twenty minutes to get to the strip club and he had managed to cool down while staring at his feet.

“Yeah.” The answer was calm and a little grim. Jin tried his best with covering up his nervously beating pulse.

Kazuya looked around in the little room he had been led to, something looking like a lunch room and quickly deduced that this wasn’t the murder scene, something of a let down. What intrigued him was the fact that Jin was calm, collected and looked more or less professional. He was unsettled.

“Did you want to show me how strippers spend their breaks or was there something of importance you wanted to show me?” Kazuya asked irritatedly staring at the officer in charge, not letting a reaction pass by unnoticed.

“How fucking hilarious of you, Kamenashi.” Jin’s voice was cool and lacked any emotion. He had more important things to do than going through this endless war of insults. He had a cityful of people on his responsibility, now short of proper safety since there was a serial killer running free. But, Jin reasoned, a university student filled with theory with no experience of the real world around couldn’t possibly get how serious the situation was.

“Another murder,” Jin finally said expressionlessly and got up, starting to walk to another room.

Jin more or less dashed out of the room, as fast as he could while still walking and Kazuya had to settle into a jog in order to keep up with him. “I understood it was about a murder, I just can’t understand why we’re at a strip club?!” he hissed, it had been a long day and being dragged to this hell hole wasn’t how he would’ve liked to spend an afternoon.

“Because the victim was found here. What, you really thought we’re such good buddies I’d invite you to a strip club just to spend time with me?” Jin couldn’t help adding a little mocking tingle to his voice. After all, his irritation with the boy hadn’t lessened a bit.

“Here? So the victim is what? A Stripper? You’ve got to be kidding me Akanishi...” He had heard of weird stuff but a person first murdering a priest and then continuing on to a stripper sounded pretty out there to him. That was why he had a hard time controlling his loathing of this investigation, he couldn’t understand how they could be so daft.

Jin finally opened the door leading to the crime scene and waved for Kazuya to go in. He walked to the victim and knelt down. “An underage stripper. The boss reassures that he didn’t know her real age. She has been in touch with the police several times because of involvement with drugs. Apparently besides stripping she also does some special services for pay. You get what I mean by special services.” Jin’s face suddenly looked empathetic. He observed the girl, lost in his own thoughts.

She was pretty, maybe a bit malnourished but still quite attractive. She didn’t look underage, she looked like an adult. so Akanishi’s empathetic gaze was a mystery to Kazuya. But all that had to wait, he couldn’t get lost in useless pondering now, not when the police was about to stain the record of who he thought would become the most talked about killer in Japan’s history. He had to set things straight.

“Akanishi, this isn’t done by our murdered, this is just a crime of passion. Look, she hasn’t even fought back, she knew whoever killed her.” This time he used a soft voice, maybe that would help the other to understand.

“So you’re saying this is done some horny customer whose S/M went overboard?” Jin had snapped out of his trance and was now staring at Kazuya accusingly. He had a soft spot when it came to children and even the mere thought of this young girl dying in such a filthy manner offended him, even though it wasn’t the case.

“I would’ve said that it was more like her boyfriend, maybe even her brother or her father. You must’ve seen murders like these before right? What made you call me? Why this panic when this is the sort of thing you usually investigate?” Kazuya couldn’t hold back his questions, he didn’t care if the officer looked at him like he was the scum of the earth. The police was supposed to be professionals, this was starting to look ridiculous.

“Well, I should’ve known you’re more interested in cold facts. The wall.” Jin pointed at the wall next to Kazuya. “There’s some text, a message from the murderer.”

It took him a few seconds to register what he was looking at, a beige wall covered in brightly colored graffiti, a considerably messy bunch of words hastily sprayed on it. Some parts he recognized from lyrics, some parts were in gibberish English and there were even some kanji amongst the roman letters. But it all made sense to him, nothing made his interest peak and most of all - it was completely and utterly dry, maybe even months old.

“THIS is what made you pester Ueda to call me?! This is what I hurried across town for?” Kazuya was beyond calm and reasonable now, he had never had any patience when it came to idiocy anyway.

“...Yes?” Jin raised his eyebrows and eyed Kazuya, his gaze clearly asking “are you really that stupid?”. “Well, look at that text, it caught my attention in particular. It just keeps repeating about being on a highway to hell!” Jin’s voice contained a hint of frustration once Kazuya’s expression didn’t change.

“That’s just lyrics to a song, a song with that precise title you... you twat! Have you been living under a rock?!”

Jin froze for a moment before as pompously as possible delving out his cellphone and accessing the internet. He surfed for some time before finding the lyrics Kazuya was talking about. He coughed lightly, feeling his face turn its color to deep red.

“Well... How can you know it’s not the murderer? Maybe he wants to tell something with the lyrics.” Jin settled himself to the defending, stubborn mode.

“Oh no, there’s no getting out of this pickle by talking Mister. You owe me access to the next crime scene left after our murderer and you can’t just throw a mere crime of passion under my nose and expect me to fall in the trap. There’s nothing, and I really mean nothing, that indicates that this murder is connected to the one of the priest and you can’t seriously believe that I’d be fooled by some scribble on a wall.” With this Kazuya pulled up the zipper of his jacket and turned around, with every intention of walking out of the room.

Jin was angry and embarrassed but kept it out of his face. He didn’t intend on revealing to Kazuya that he himself had actually been fooled by some scribble on a wall. He cleared his throat and tried to come up with something to say before the boy would walk out.

“Give me your number, I’ll call you!” Jin finally blurted out and instantly cursed himself. He sounded like some enthusiastic school girl who had just gotten in touch with her crush for the first time.

Kazuya couldn’t even hide the fact that he was surprised by this sudden turn of events. He would’ve mailed Akanishi his number later anyway, or maybe gotten Ueda to hand it to him, but he had never imagined the officer to ask for it himself. It was with a bit of astonishment he stooped in the middle of a step and turned around only to be met by the sight of a pained looking man. It had clearly hurt his pride just as much as it puzzled Kazuya.

“Alright, here,” he said, pulled out a moleskin notebook from his jacket and wrote down his number, “don’t loose it now” he added with a wink. This was maybe going to be more fun than he had thought.

Jin grabbed the piece of paper quickly and stuffed it into his pocket. He settled an annoyed expression on. “Well then, you don’t have any reason to be here since this murder wasn’t good enough for you. So piss off you little brat.” Jin tried to sound stingy but still there was something almost gentle in the way he said the words.

With that, Kazuya stuck his tongue out and started walking up the hallway in which they had come down before. After a few meters, when he was sure that he was out of sight but still at a hearing distance, he shouted “boyfriend, brother or father!” back towards the little room in which the young girl had taken her last breath. Who was Akanishi to decide what interested him or not? Everything interested him. But he had already gotten his sights on that one special murderer, the one he would hunt down and catch. An ambition the officer was too righteous to understand.

-

Jin walked with his head held high. The officers on his way gave him empathetic looks as he made his way towards Ando's office. The strangled stripper's brother had been arrested after interviewing several people, witnessing they had seen him going to the backstage and coming back after a short while. The brother had confessed right away, his motive being pure rage. The career choice of his sister had been too shameful for him.

Jin had no idea why Ando had ordered him to his office but he knew a lecture was ahead waiting for him. After all, that was always the case when his boss wanted to meet in private. Jin always had hard time with not barking anything back or simply striking his asshole boss’ teeth down his throat.

Jin stopped in front of Ando's secretary. She was sending an e-mail with her cellphone.

”Kato,” Jin said and smiled as the woman hastily put her phone down.

”Akanishi-san! How many times do I need to ask you to call me just Koyuki. I hate my last name, it makes me feel old.”

Jin uttered a laugh. Koyuki was going through some strange aging complex even though she wasn't even in her 40's yet.

”Sure, sure. Ando wanted to see me.”

”Lectured again? That sucks, Akanishi-san” Koyuki said and smiled compassionately. Among the people in the department the woman was the one who feared Ando the most, not the least because of the man continually sexually harassing her, grabbing her butt and so on. Ando's disrespect towards women was one of the reasons Jin couldn't stand his boss at all.

”Well, better get this over with” Jin sighed and waved his goodbyes, continuing his journey towards the office in which he had spent many moments gritting his teeth. Once successfully knocking the door and getting the permission to come in Jin paced in indifferently. He stood in front of the desk with an awful posture, non-verbally showing his lack of interest.

Ando was sitting behind his desk, eyeing Jin coldly.

”So, Akanishi, any ideas why you're here?”

”Nope.” Jin made sure to sound as rude as possible. Ando gave no reaction to Jin's behaviour besides leaning slightly forward.

”A kid. In the crime scene. With the body still there on top of that. I heard from one of the officers. They say you didn't only let him sniff around in there but actually invited him to help you.”

Oh, Jin thought. Oh. It was about Kamenashi. Well, he should've guessed it wouldn't go unnoticed. He scratched his head in boredom.

”What about it?”

”It didn't cross your mind even once that the kid could mess up evidence?”

”He's a smart kid,” Jin suddenly found himself defending the boy. ”Wouldn't mess up a thing. Ask Ueda, they're cousins.”

”I don't care if he's a member of mensa or the fucking illuminati, the rules strictly prohibit outsiders from accessing the crime scene.” Ando was now looking slightly angry.

”Why do you care so much now, earlier you weren't interested in the case at all since the victim was a 'crack whore',” Jin barked in annoyance.

”Don't get me wrong, Akanishi, I don't give a shit about the girl.” Jin grasped his hands into fists. The fresh images of the underage stripper strangled to death were circling in his head. Ando was one cold bastard.

”What I do care about is the reputation of this station. If the tabloids find out we let little amateur kids into the crime scenes, a hell will break loose and Matsumoto would probably fire me.” Matsumoto was the head of the whole station. A fair guy but indefinitely strict when it came to breaking direct orders. And, Jin almost smiled to himself, he disliked Ando just as much as Jin did.

”I'll let you off with a warning this time, Akanishi, but the next time you'll have to answer to Matsumoto.”

Jin nodded and walked out without bowing. Well, at least he now had a good reason for letting that Kamenashi brat into the crime scenes. After all, he never rejected a fair chance to mess with his boss.

-

The sun had set and an orange light spread over the city streets. There was something about the light bulbs set high above ground that made her feel safe and protected. Nothing bad happened to a person in a well lit world, in a place where everybody could see each other, or at least that was what she first had thought.

It was hard staying optimistic and to feel safe when you were tied by your wrists and feet, propped up against a cold brick wall. She hadn’t seen it coming, how could she have? Crime rates were at an all time low and she had never even heard of a woman being attacked like this in this part of town. Her throbbing head made it hard to think, sending jolts of pain down her face whenever she tried to shift her position just a little. Something had been trickling down her neck, maybe it was blood. She didn’t even know where she was because the hit to her head had knocked her out until a few minutes ago, until she woke up back bound and held captive in a back alley.

Before she got a chance to see what was happening to her she was hit again and then dragged up on her feet, still pressed against the wall behind her. It was too dark to see the face of her captor, the only thing she could make out was broad shoulders, the flash of cold metal in a hand and the fact that her guts was now spilling out onto the concrete below her. The pain was numbed by her dizzy state, just like her panic, and it was with fascination she looked down at her innards. A final thought about how much shinier they’d look if there was some light in the alley passed her mind before she was lost into darkness.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	3. Codes and Confetti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate) (a.k.a. Rika). I'm attempting to re-upload this story as rapidly as possible, but since it is quite long and I'm going to have to format a lot of text it's going to take a while. Please be patient with me 💜🙏 Here comes the third chapter!
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _February 8th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 3 - Codes and Confetti**

This time of the day the cafeteria was almost serene if he compared it to how noisy it was during lunch hours. There were the usual loud quarrels going on in the far corners of the huge room, serious and not so serious ones, and the line at the cashiers never seemed to decrease, but all in all it was mildly habitable. Kazuya had nothing important to do anyway. The background check he had done on Endo, the dead priest, had turned out a dead end and all in all he had seemed like a likeable kind of man. Why he had gotten murdered seemed to have nothing to do with who or what he was. This set Kazuya’s theories back a few steps. Maybe he had to rethink this whole thing completely.

His laptop chimed slightly when a mail arrived and a small smile formed on his lips as he discovered it’s contents, it was a newspaper article about recent breakthroughs in police investigations. Mainly it was a love letter to a man Kazuya couldn’t recognize but assumed was one of Akanishi’s superiors, saying how much the force had improved since he had been put in charge. Secondly it was an article about the murder Akanishi had freaked out about a week ago, the murder of a “Cherry Girl”. Kazuya guessed this was Ueda’s way of saying thanks or something, though he really hoped that his little tip hadn’t been the thing that solved the case for them. He really wanted to have more faith in the police than that.

“You prickly little thing!” Something heavy was suddenly slammed against Kazuya’s head. “Skipping my lesson again?”

“Oi! Ooki-shima! What’s that for?” Kazuya whined as he rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head. Sure enough, it was his psychology professor Ooshima standing behind him with her arms crossed, a large book in one hand, a really familiar looking book at that. “If I’m supposed to be in class then what are you doing here anyway?” he asked when she didn’t seem to even consider apologizing for hitting him.

“Self-study. I needed to fetch this book.” Ooshima swung the book in front of Kazuya’s face with a disgruntled pout. “I should really kick your bratty little ass out of my course.”

“Kicking out a student with top grades, passing exams with flying colors? How would that look?” he sing-songed as he collected his things getting ready to leave before she forced him into writing some extracurricular essay or something horribly useless like that. She was the most prominent go to person in Japan for issues concerning the mind, but she had a scary love of essays. Long essays.

Ooshima, however, prevented Kazuya from leaving by hooking her finger to the collar of his shirt. 

“Don’t be so arrogant. If you’re supposed to be smart, you ought to know that nothing kills one’s intelligence as effectively as getting too cocky. But if you’re so sure I’ve got nothing to teach you, you could always prove it by writing a little something about neuropsychological issues. Or then again, you could simply attend my class and prove your capability there.” Ooshima smiled sweetly and patted Kazuya in the head with the book.

“You’re having them do self-study most of the time anyway” he muttered and quickly sneaked away past her before she could add any other subject to his homework, already starting to type out the essay in his head.

“Eight pages. And no messing with the font sizes. Oh, and thanks for lending this book,” Ooshima yelled cheerfully after him.

So that was why the book had looked familiar, Kazuya thought. He wondered how on earth she always managed to get a hold of his books, or his pens, his chairs or his papers. Ooshima was the closest thing to a magician he could imagine. A very large and silly magician at that.

“Kamenashi!” Ooshima’s tone had changed. She sounded almost serious when she once again called after Kazuya.

“Don’t think I can’t sense when something big’s up. Don’t even think of getting in trouble. And also... Those black and blue striped boxers are the biggest turn-off I’ve seen in a while, I’d consider throwing them away if I were you. Bye, then!” Ooshima started walking away, whistling some painfully familiar Disney tune.

Her last remark made Kazuya stop in the middle of a step, he could hear waves of giggling breaking out in his vicinity and he felt something very close to embarrassment. She had been in his room, he could deduce, and this somehow made everything make sense. Glad he had gotten off the hook more or less untarnished. This time he continued walking, hoping she wouldn’t find out about his nightly excursion to a crime scene, interview with a murder victim’s neighbour and recent visit to a strip club.

The fervent chiming of his phone cut him off in his train of thoughts.

“Yeah?” he huffed, the same thing he used to say when the caller was unknown.

“You interested in a wealthy lady who’s organs have been delved out, combined with a strange number code sprayed on the wall next to the body?”

Akanishi’s voice made his stomach tighten. He had no idea what of all the things he got told produced the effect, but all of them were equally intriguing. This time the rumbling officer had hit the jackpot.

“It’s him!” Kazuya exclaimed while entering a deserted restroom in search of some privacy.

“Seems like it. You sure you want to come over, it’s kinda gruesome?” Akanishi’s voice, strangely enough, held no hint of mockery but sounded rather genuine.

“No, no it’s okay, I’m coming right over! Mail me the directions, I’m heading for the subway station right away,” he said trying to calm his over excited mind down. It had finally happened, he was finally going and the game was finally on.

“I’ll send Ueda to pick you up, it’ll be faster that way.”

“Right, rush hour on the trains...” Kazuya mumbled as he leaned back on the wall, feeling the cold tiles press against his shoulder blades and the back of his head.

“It’ll take approximately half an hour. But...” Akanishi stuttered lightly. “If you want to give your mail address, I could send you a picture of the number code. I mean, if you’d like to ponder upon it while waiting. And your mail address could come in handy so I don’t have to call you every time I have something to say. I mean, related to the case.” Akanishi cleared his throat and regained his serious tone. “I’ve got paper and a pencil now. Hit me. With the address, I mean.” His voice rose by an octave at the end of the sentence, making him sound like a boy who had just hit puberty, destroying whatever dignity he had had left from before.

Kazuya could only wait and listen as Akanishi talked himself into a state of shrieking nervousness. If this was him asking for someone’s email address then Kazuya couldn’t really picture him doing anything else other than pouring someone’s coffee.

“ _kame1582@goo.ne.jp_ ” he told the officer, spelling it out as clearly as possible.

“Right, right...” Jin mumbled. “I’ll send you the picture. And Ueda will be on his way. Erm... Well, see you. At the crime scene. Yeah, see you at the crime scene.” Akanishi got his self-confidence back with the last sentence and managed to sound almost normal.

“Okay” Kazuya hastily replied before he hung up on Akanishi and started staring at his phone. The thought of the code completely occupying his thoughts.

When it finally came through he stared at the picture for several minutes, turning the screen upside down and turning it the right way again, zooming in and zooming out, before he irritatedly closed the file. This was going to be a bit harder than he had hoped for. This might actually be even more thrilling than he had imagined, he added and felt his heart beating faster. The chase had begun.

-

“So... Who appeared to be wrong after all about this murderer? Who was wrong with stating that the murderer wouldn’t strike again after killing that priest?”

“Shut up, Pi, and figure out something useful to do,” Jin grunted and stared at the number code on the wall. Horikita was there examining the body, the fascinated look on her face when observing the out-pulled organs making Jin feel ill.

“Oh, what a beautiful liver she had,” Horikita said and sighed in admiration. Jin restrained himself from answering and turned away just to see one of the lab rats photographing the walls with his back towards the body.

“Nakamaru, you fucking idiot, what are you doing?” Jin needed to relieve some of his grumpiness embarrassing himself in front of Kazuya had caused, and Nakamaru was the perfect target. He was a silent nerd, interested in facts and paper work but could not take the real deal, blood making him feel like puking. Unfortunately Taguchi, the guy who usually photographed the scenes and collected DNA samples, had a day off so Nakamaru had to do the job.

“The ENTIRE crime scene is important,” Nakamaru lectured and returned to the dull looking brick wall, seemingly unaffected by Jin’s fiery glare.

“Sure, so why are you only photographing the parts NOT covered in blood? Turn the fuck around and photograph the body, we can’t move it before that.”

“I will when I’m done here, I just need to take a few more at this pattern here. It’s an incredibly interesting piece of brick and the color is just-”

Jin lost his patience in a split second and before Nakamaru could retreat, leapt forward and grabbed his cheeks between his fingers, making him look like a puppy being fed.

“I’m asking if you’re going to photograph the body now because if you won’t, I’ll kick your cowardly ass so hard you’ll fly all the way to-”

“Manhandling forensic assistants now are we? Have you woken up on the wrong side of the bed every time I’ve seen you or were you born a grumpy old man?” Kazuya asked, bored, from the entrance of the narrow alley.

“So this is the brat who owned you in your own job?” Pi was in front of Kazuya in seconds, checking him out with an amused gaze. “Jin, you should get a hold of yourself, losing to a weed like this.” Pi turned back to Jin, who had let go of Nakamaru, and raised his eyebrows.

“Kamenashi Kazuya,” he introduced himself, holding out his hand for Pi to shake, “and I’m no weed,” he added with a wry smile. He couldn’t help but to like the guy who told Akanishi off like that.

“Seriously, Bakanishi, how much of a freaking idiot are you? I bet this kid isn’t even old enough to reserve a room in a love hotel!” Pi shook hands with Kazuya half-heartedly but didn’t let his eyes off Jin, who was glaring at him murderously. “I mean, I knew you weren’t the smartest guy in the station but seriously? Losing to this runt.” Pi poked Kazuya’s forehead when saying the word ‘runt’.

As amused Kazuya had been by the other officers jokes he got more than irritated when the man poked him in the middle of his forehead, not even looking at him once since he had let his eyes sleazily wander across his body.

“At least I’m not the one who got owned by a five-year-old girl in tic-tac-toe! And he’s studying in uni, something you were never able to do!” Jin had now marched to where Pi and Kazuya were standing, looking deeply insulted.

“Neither were you. And at least I’m not the one who made out with a drag queen thinking he was a chick!” Pi was instantly in the defending mode, forgetting about Kazuya’s existence completely.

“Her boobs felt very real! But at least I’m not the one who peed himself when passed out on his girlfriend’s bed!”

“I wasn’t coherent, you were!”

“Oh yeah? Well how about the time when you tried to harass Ueda and got your ass kicked by Ryo?”

“I didn’t know they were dating!”

Kazuya couldn’t believe his eyes, nor his ears. They were standing in the middle of a high profile murder scene and was now deeply engrossed in a fight over who could be considered the biggest idiot. In his own opinion they both were, equally so. It really would’ve been funny if it took place somewhere else, not in the middle of the investigation of the murder Kazuya believed was going to bring them all incredible fame. But mostly himself.

“I knew it! I knew this was somehow associated to aliens!” Jin and Pi stopped abruptly and turned their heads to Horikita, who was crouching beside the body, holding something tiny between her thumb and index finger. “I’ve read about it, they capture people and leave a tracker inside them to learn more about human life. I wonder why they killed her, though... I better google it later on.”

“Aliens?!” Kazuya asked in annoyance, saying what both officers seemed to think. “Who’s this delusional person and what is she doing on my crime scene?” he asked while striding forward, quickly putting on a glove, to take the small object out of her hands. Horikita, however, didn’t let him grab it so easily but dodged the hand unexpectedly rapidly.

“Don’t. Do you want to be captured by aliens, human child? Don’t mess with their things.”

Jin and Pi glanced at each other in sign of a wordless agreement. They wanted to see how Kazuya would handle the woman’s rather extraordinary personality. It was going to be fun.

“I’ll mess with them whether you like it or not, now give it here!”

“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. You’ll thank me afterwards,” Horikita stated determinedly and dropped the object that appeared to be a tiny plastic shell covering something, in a mini grip bag.

“What the-” Kazuya hissed and grabbed the small bag from her hands, almost stumbling over Nakamaru who now had moved on to photograph another stretch of untouched brick wall while the argument had gone on. “So, the aliens have planted a shell in a human body, how very nice of them, for decorating her insides I mean.” Kazuya continued and picked the small object out of it’s confines in the bag, staring at it with a concentrated frown.

“Silly boy, it’s not decoration, it’s a tracker. Give me, I’ll show you how it works.” Horikita stretched her hand out, smiling somehow creepily, not the least bit annoyed by Kazuya’s mocking attitude.

“I’ll handle it myself thank you,” he answered coolly and gave the small object a shake, immediately releasing a piece of rolled up paper more or less unharmed by being placed in a dead body.

“So how is this for an alien tracker?” he asked gloatingly, presenting the paper in front of her in the palm of his hand.

In a blink of an eye Horikita had snatched the shell and the piece of paper and put them back to the mini grip bag. Before Kazuya had time to react, the woman had determinedly stuffed the bag into her bra to prevent Kazuya from grabbing it again. “Aliens have many ways of communicating,” she stated simply.

“For the love of... that isn’t an alien object! That’s a plastic sea shell that hid a piece of paper, obviously a message or a clue from the killer!” Kazuya hissed at her.

“Horikita, let me see that,” Jin suddenly said, walking towards her and to Kazuya’s astonishment, the woman fished the bag out of her bra and handed it to Jin without further objections.

Her now pleasant smile made Kazuya’s anger build up to a boil, what was this about anyway? Having a delusional and obviously disturbed pathologist running around at the crime scenes would definitely explain a part of why the police solved very few murders these days. What it didn’t explain was why they’d kept that basket case and apparently found it unnecessary to replace her. He could only watch open-mouthedly as she handed over the object to Akanishi without further ado.

“It’s called authority, kiddo.” Pi had walked to Kazuya and was now grinning in amusement. “She might have unique beliefs but she’s still a pro. Letting children handle the evidence isn’t included in the protocol.”

“It might not be, but this ‘child’ has got full access to this crime scene, unless you want me accidentally telling the press about how very professional and competent I’ve found you all to be,” Kazuya replied before walking up to Akanishi, “you still haven’t introduced yourself though,” Kazuya continued as he peeked at the piece of paper Akanishi had now unrolled with gloved hands.

“Yamashita Tomohisa,” Pi replied and followed Kazuya to observe the piece of paper as well. “And I can’t really recall anything we’ve done so far that would risk the investigations.” The man’s voice wasn’t angry but instead sounded even more entertained.

“Oh, you mean like ignoring a crucial clue in the investigations, having no idea how to solve that clue and then confusing random lyric scribbles as codes making everything a goddamn mess?” Kazuya replied. This whole situation was giving him the mother of all headaches and this Yamashita fellow was more or less an obnoxious prat, however funny Kazuya found it when Akanishi got scolded by him. Why was everyone working against him? And why was Akanishi staring at him with big hurt eyes?

“It’s just numbers, just as on the wall,” Jin said silently and gave the paper to Pi. He glanced at Kazuya with a hurt expression before walking to Nakamaru. “I’ll personally make sure you’ll regret it if you don’t photograph the body before they remove it.”

Then, Jin was gone, taking out his phone on the way.

“Aww, you made him sad even though he so nicely defended you earlier when I made fun of you. Prick,” Pi said sweetly and put the paper back in the bag. He then approached Nakamaru and took the camera from him, starting to photograph the body.

“Defended me?” Kazuya asked silently, “so that was what it was all about...”

It took him a few seconds before he got his legs to react but when they did he instantly started running after the officer ignoring Yamashita’s teasing whistle. He couldn’t spot him amongst the group of policemen standing at the entrance of the alley and it wasn’t before he rounded a corner he spotted him, leaning up against a concrete wall with his cigarette lazily hanging between his lips. Still looking just as little as a cop as that night he had gotten tackled by him in that first crime scene.

“I... I didn’t mean to hurt you, really, I just get carried away. At least that’s what my professor tells me,” Kazuya told the other man with his head down in a slight bow.

Jin turned his head towards Kame and smiled weakly. “As if a brat like you could offend me,” he said, though not really in a convincing way. He then turned back and continued dragging long inhales from the cigarette with a spaced out expression. “No harm done,” he said, deep in thought. “Can’t blame you for my own mistakes.”

“No, but you can blame me for rubbing it in your face and ridiculing you. Hey, who’s the kid here anyway? You should be bending me over your knee giving me a good spanking,” Kazuya said jokingly, changing tactics.

The next moment Jin was coughing the smoke out of his lungs. “Wh- what?” Jin panted, eyes teary from the furious expectorating. “Why would I want to spank you? Do I look like I want to spank you? I don’t! Do you think that- I mean, I didn’t ask your email address because I wanted to... Do things or...” Jin was babbling wide-eyed, the cigarette fallen to the ground long ago.

Akanishi, once again, managed to baffle Kazuya.

“Huh? What are you on about? I was joking, you’re always telling me I’m a kid right?” he asked while taking a worried step closer to the officer who’s face had turned white, maybe because of lack of oxygen from all the coughing. 

“Right, yeah. Joking.” Jin said and breathed out slowly. “Of course you were,” he added when getting some of his sense back. He pondered for a while before smirking and walking past Kazuya, innocently smacking his ass on the way.

Kazuya jumped and yelped, totally unprepared for the sudden turn of events and couldn’t do much else but to stutter out a shocked “What?”

Jin shrugged innocently before ruffling Kazuya’s hair as annoyingly as possible. “You asked for it.”

Kazuya decided it was probably a bad idea apologizing to Akanishi if this was going to be the end result every time. But he couldn’t help but to smile at the older man’s way of instantly cheering himself up.

“I’m twenty-two you know, I haven’t been spanked in years,” he scolded with feigned annoyance.

Jin stopped to face Kame and pinched both of his cheeks between his fingers to stretch them apart. “Adult, aren’t we?” he said mockingly and laughed at the way Kazuya looked.

“You can’t be much older yourself!” he managed to word out while Akanishi played with his cheeks looking terribly concentrated.

“I’m 28. A man in his most handsome age,” Jin said arrogantly and let go of Kazuya before walking towards his car. “Come on kid, it’s enough for a day, I’ll take you home.”

Kazuya looked at Akanishi for a few seconds before deciding to do what he was told, maybe compliance would work better on him. “You’ll have to take me to my dorms, I’m not living with Ueda and Ryo you know. And you can’t make me like last time. Ryo will never stop nagging me about the fact that I ran from him.”

“Sure, whatever,” Jin said with a smile and seated himself, Kazuya following behind.

-

It was ten in the evening when Kazuya’s phone chimed familiarly and revealed a picture of the little piece of paper he had retrieved from the plastic shell earlier that day. He could spot Akanishi’s finger at the very corner of the picture, holding the paper in place. Kazuya couldn’t help but to smile as he started typing in the new set of codes into his computer.

-

“Good morning, Koyuki,” Jin said cheerfully when approaching Ando’s assistant’s desk. Koyuki smiled compassionately and reached for the phone on the desk.

“Akanishi-san is here,” she said softly and listened to instructions. “Understood.” She then turned to Jin. “You may go in, he’s been waiting for you. Good luck, he’s furious. What did you do?”

“Remember that woman whose body we found yesterday?” Koyuki nodded with a puzzled expression. “I let an outsider to the crime scene,” Jin continued in a carefree way and shrugged. Koyuki gasped, her face mixed between dread and admiration. 

”Akanishi, you might get fired because of that!”

“I won’t,” Jin said lightly and waved his goodbyes before starting to make his way towards Ando’s office. He knocked firmly and when receiving a grumpy command to come in, opened the door without hurry.

“Now you’ve done it, Akanishi.” Ando was angry, Jin could tell immediately. “What were you thinking, letting that kid there again?”

Jin shrugged and held in a yawn. “You even let him examine the evidence, do you have any idea what would happen if this got out to the press?”

“Well, better make sure it won’t, then,” Jin said indifferently. That appeared to only feed Ando’s rage further and he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

“Do you remember what I told you last time if you let outsiders in the crime scenes again?”

It took all Jin got not to smile. This was what he was waiting for. “You said I would respond to Matsumoto.”

“And you will. Say goodbye to your career, Akanishi.” Ando got up and marched out, Jin following close behind with a snicker. 

“I’m visiting Matsumoto briefly,” Ando announced to Koyuki, who nodded hastily. Jin would’ve winked at her if he wasn’t so terrible at it but with his winking skills he had to merely content himself with smirking behind Ando’s back and giving Koyuki thumbs up. The woman answered with a timid smile.

Jin walked lazily behind his boss through the station before getting on an elevator and going up by two floors. Matsumoto was the head of the whole station so his office was naturally above everyone else’s. When the doors opened again with a merry ting, Ando settled a flattering smile on his face. Jin rolled his eyes. Ando just didn’t seem to realize that his brownnosing attitude was one of the main reasons Matsumoto disliked him so greatly, among with his lack of empathy towards the victims.

Jin’s boss walked smoothly to the door and knocked. When hearing the permission to come in, Ando opened the door and crossed the room, his ingratiating smile never fading.

“Sorry to disturb you so early in the morning, Matsumoto-sama.” Ando bowed down, Jin following the example, though his bow wasn’t as deep as Ando’s.

The man sitting behind the big mahogany desk sighed lightly and stretched his long legs which he had gracefully placed on the corner of it. He was somewhat of a legend in all the police districts of Japan; young, successful and loved by the media. So it wasn’t a big surprise that the cover of the newspaper he was currently reading proudly presented a picture of said man, Matsumoto Jun.

“No need to worry Ando. I’ve been here since five, as you should know by now. What is it this time?” he asked sounding like he was more or less bored, still hiding behind the huge newspaper.

“It’s about this Akanishi here. He let an outsider to the crime scene in the case of the murdered stripper and after that to the crime scene we had yesterday with the killed woman,” Ando explained, trying to sound calm but his distaste for not being able to put Jin into order himself still audible.

“Oh Jin, I didn’t know you were here too,” Matsumoto lowered the newspaper with a big sparkling smile, revealing his perfectly permed black locks, “you should speak up!” he lectured.

“Well, that kid has been a great help so far and he’s a cousin of Ueda’s. He knows how to act in the crime scenes and hasn’t caused any trouble.” Jin smiled and shrugged. “I think he would be a great addition to our team.”

“It’s not for you to decide!” Ando hissed. “You see, this is what he’s like all the time, making decisions on his own. Honestly speaking, Matsumoto-sama, I don’t think he’s suitable to be a police officer.” 

“Nonsense, I like a little independence in my officers, saves me a lot of tedious decision making. So, Jin,” Matsumoto continued, completely ignoring the outraged officer with a gracious wave of his hand, “what’s he like, Ueda’s cousin?”

“He’s a university student. Smart as hell, quick with conclusions considering the crimes which have, so far, all been right. And as I said, he knows how to act in the crime scenes. Plus, he’s very interested in the latest case.” Jin didn’t hesitate at all with praising Kazuya. Yes, the kid knew how to be an annoying little brat but still, honestly speaking Jin still wanted him around. Mainly because the code murderer was more than Jin felt confident handling but also because all in all Kazuya was a funny little thing.

His glamorous boss nodded and put his legs up on the corner of the desk again.

“He sounds like a catch. Okay, consultant it is then. You can ask Yamada down at human resources to write up a contract for consulting assignments and then he’s good to go. He’ll be answering directly under you so keep an eye on him, is that clear Jin?” Matsumoto explained while raising the newspaper again, but not before he could give Ando a stern look from behind his black-rimmed glasses.

“Understood, sir,” Jin said and bowed. “Well then, if you’ll excuse me.” Jin smiled smugly at Ando, whose eyes were wide and face pale with dumbfounded rage. Jin had to once again hold in a giggle as he paced out of the office.

Jin had taken only a few steps when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

“Did you get fired?”

“Well hello to you too, Pi.” Jin said, not able to hide his cheerful state of mind.

“Well did you?”

“Nope, instead Ando got humiliated and Kamenashi got full access to the crime scenes.”

“Why are you sounding so happy, I thought you hated the kid?” Pi said in a teasing manner, making Jin blush a little.

“Well, he might be annoying but he’s still smart. It’s not like I particularly WANT to keep him.”

“Keep him? How cute.” Jin could tell his friend didn’t believe a word he was saying and it made his blush deepen even more.

“Well, why don’t you get him to Ueda’s birthday party this Saturday?” Pi continued. They had been planning the party for some time. It was going to be a surprise, so Ueda had no way of knowing about it and therefore Kazuya was also unaware. Ryo was to take Ueda out during the day so the rest of them could organize the surprise meanwhile.

“I guess I could. You know, because he’s Ueda’s cousin. Not like I want him to come or anyth-”

“Yeah right. Come to the cafeteria, you owe me a cup of coffee.”

-

Saturday. Time to write that essay, Kazuya reminded himself and forced himself to look away from the computer screen currently showing the string of codes found on the crime scene. They were all haphazard, seemed to show little to none patterns to his naked eye and all the possible solutions his computer had come up with were all dead ends. His expensive code deciphering program was good for nothing. Maybe a short delve into the human psyche would take the stress out of his mind, he thought, and opened a word processor on the other screen. That’s how far he got before his phone chimed and made him sigh in relief, maybe it was something important, something that would mean he could put the essay off to another day.

_12.46 am._  
_From: chyeah_jin_  
_To: kame1582_

_Just thought you should know that we’re having a surprise party for Ueda at his place, it starts at eight. Feel free to drop by._  
_-Akanishi_

Kazuya smiled and leaned back into his chair. This was definitely a good enough reason to write the essay another day, he thought as he typed out his answer.

_12.48 am._  
_From kame1582_  
_To: chyeah_jin_

_You can count me in_ ✨😁❗

-

It took him almost an hour to go on the packed subway and when he finally got there, hair ruffled and cheeks flushed, it was almost nine and the party had already started. Ueda’s house was full of people Kazuya had never seen in his entire life, with exceptions of a few faces he had seen at Ueda’s birthday party last year, more or less drunk out of their minds. He pushed himself through a group of people dancing in the living room and made his way towards the small dining room, hoping to find someone he knew there, when someone grabbed his arm.

“I’ve been trying to get your attention like forever!” Ueda shouted in his ear with a big grin on his face, “I nearly lost you when you went by the guys from narcotics.”

Kazuya hugged his cousin and smiled back.

“Sorry for not getting here for the surprise, but I didn’t really know about this at all.”

“I’ll blame the messenger then, who was it by the way?”

Kazuya hesitated a bit, what was his cousin going to say about Akanishi mailing him in private? He better tell him now anyway, because Ueda had a talent for finding Kazuya’s secrets out.

“Akanishi mailed me, said I might want to be here.”

“Oh, then let’s find that rascal!” Ueda exclaimed, laughing as he started pulling Kazuya back towards the living room.

But before they got very far Ueda was almost tackled to the floor by what looked like a tipsy Ryo, making Ueda lose his grip around Kazuya’s arm.

“Princeeeees-!” Ryo howled as he clung to his boyfriend with all his might, “come on, lets dance Tat-chan!”

“Get off me you midget! I can’t breathe!” Ueda barked, trying to get his balance back while Ryo occupied himself with touching as many indecent places he could with only one arm free. As a result of their struggle, they both ended up leaning against a wall, Ryo on top of Ueda.

“Don’t be so mean princess, I live on love, not insults.” Ryo answered before he devoured Ueda’s mouth, silencing what could only be another harsh reply from his lover, while Kazuya figured it was time to make himself scarce.

A few minutes later he had managed to work his way around to the other end of the room, getting a bit tired after all the wriggling and pushing. He leaned on the wall, taking a deep breath of the smoke filled air. It was already too late when he noticed the person sitting next to him at a small table, a table Kazuya recognised from Ueda’s hallway. The crazy alien-lady had spotted him.

“Good evening, you,” Horikita greeted and bowed slightly without standing up. She observed Kazuya with her emotionless eyes for a good while before Kazuya figured out she was probably waiting for a greeting in return.

“Yeah, right, good evening,” he answered back, taking a step closer to make himself heard over the music. “By the way, who are you?” he asked, not remembering anybody introducing the weird woman to him.

“Horikita Maki, the pathologist of the homicide department. Though, they don’t usually need pathologists anywhere else,” Horikita said with a clear monotonic voice. “I prefer the dead over the living.”

“Uh-huh, and that’s why you’re at a party surrounded by them? The living I mean,” he said with a puzzled look. He couldn’t make any sense out of her at all.

Horikita blinked a few times before answering. “There has been a strange aura hovering above the station. I can’t sort out who’s the one producing it, so I thought I should keep an eye on everyone. It’s a horrible, evil aura.”

“That sounds... horrible indeed.”

This evening was proving to be at least more entertaining than writing an essay on neuropsychology. He hunched down in front of the eccentric pathologist and held his hand out, “Kamenashi Kazuya, I’m Ueda’s cousin, university student majoring in psychology.”

“Psychology is useless. Human mind is full of spirits, trying to sort it out with science is a waste of effort.” Horikita delved a deck of Tarot cards from her bag and gave it to Kazuya. “Shuffle.”

Kazuya stared at the deck of cards she had placed in his hands, bigger and bulkier than normal ones. It wasn’t the right time to start an argument, he thought, so he shuffled them in silence before handing them back.

Horikita picked seven cards from the top and placed them on the table, observing them quietly.

“You’re on to something big and you’re really ambitious about it,” she started. “You also think that it is the biggest thing you’ll ever encounter. It is, but not in the way you think. Also, it seems like your love life will blossom. Your partner will be someone simple but good-hearted, someone you thought you would never come to love. I also see a lot of frustration ahead. You’re about to face some dark times but the love and excitement will also make it the most enjoyable and thrilling time of your life,” Horikita finished and leaned back and closed her eyes, as if the fortune telling had made her utterly tired.

She was good at the acting part, Kazuya noted and stood up again, stretching his back.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he said with a smile before he turned around and planned to get as far away from her as he could. He’d really like some parts of her fortune telling to be true though, the parts about that big mission he now was on. It fit neatly with the fact that he really had something going on, a really big case. He couldn’t care less about the love stuff, it was the same things they always said.

Some of the officers had set up a temporary bar in one of the guest rooms and Kazuya tried his luck there, aimlessly trying to find someone he knew. This time it was him nearly being thrown to the ground when someone crashed into him in the doorway.

“Hey!” he shouted while pushing the large man away from him.

“Bakanishi! You know I like her! Oh, hi little one.” Pi glanced at Kazuya half-heartedly and turned back to Jin, who was pushing him out of the room.

“Yeah, you like Koyuki alright, but you should know better than just randomly jumping onto her. Don’t you think she gets harassed enough at work?” Jin scolded his friend, obviously pissed off. Pi swayed lightly and Kazuya instantly noted the man had drunk a little too much.

“I didn’t want to scare her!”

“Well, you did anyway,” Jin said dryly. It wasn’t until now when he finally noticed Kazuya. He sprang to stand in front of him and smiled insecurely, pondering what to say.

“Oh, you’re here,” Jin finally said lamely.

“Yes, I’ve been here for-” Kazuya took a quick look at his wristwatch, “thirty-two minutes.”

“I see. Strange we haven’t seen until now.” Jin laughed lightly. Pi observed the two for a while before hitting Jin in the back. 

“I’ll leave you two here since you seem to enjoy each other’s company. But Jin, a word of warning! Ryo will kick your ass if you go to their bed. You better do it-” Pi stopped to hold in a large hiccup “-in the bathroom,” he finished and winked before stumbling away.

“Do what?” Kazuya asked but got no answer from the drunk officer, instead he looked at Akanishi with a raised eyebrow.

Jin didn’t answer but stared after Pi, his face frighteningly pale. It took awhile for him to get his ability to speak back. “Nothing! He’s just dead drunk!” Jin hurried to say. “He knows I don’t have a... thing for men. He’s just drunk. Stupid idiot.” Jin ended the babbling with a huff, hoping to sound pissed off.

“Wait, men? Who said anything about men? You mean that he- he implied that we...” Kazuya let his voice trail off and suddenly found his shoes incredibly interesting, hoping his hair would hide his burning cheeks.

“Stupid, isn’t it?” Jin laughed nervously. “I’ll have to be the one to take him home later, it seems.” Jin got over his embarrassment and managed to regain the normal tune to his voice.

“Yeah... stupid,” Kazuya said quietly, hardly loud enough to be heard over the enka song currently echoing through the house. He couldn’t help but to wonder why Yamashita had gotten such a weird, and slightly dangerous, idea into his head.

“So you’re the designated driver tonight?” He asked, hoping they could forget about the whole thing as soon as possible. It would be impossible for him to crack this case if he had to worry about policemen sending him flowers and courting him, or others making fun of him for just that.

“I lost a bet so I’m his driver for the month. I bet I could get a lady to kiss before him and I thought I had won but...” Jin let his voice die out to unclear mumbling, a rosy color gathering to his face.

“And I guess this is where the drag queen comes into the picture?” Kazuya asked, not really thinking about how far fetched his conclusion would’ve seemed for anyone not living inside his head.

“Hey! He was very feminine! Even Pi didn’t actually notice anything until... He got... Aroused and...” Jin’s sentence was once again cut mid-way, Jin getting engrossed in the apparently traumatizing memory.

“I’m sure he was very beautiful,” Kazuya teased and poked Akanishi in his chest, “and good at kissing.”

“Shut up. You’re not particularly masculine yourself, you little runt,” Jin shot back in embarrassment.

“Look who’s talking! Long hair, scrunchie in suspicious color holding it up in a PONYTAIL, cute leather boots and earrings on top of that!”

“Yeah, and I still manage to look more manly than you, pretty boy!” Jin shoved his tongue out. “I’m sure you’re very popular amongst men in school. How many guys asked you to come to prom with them in high school?”

“None!” Kazuya pouted, but had a hard time holding back a smile. Bickering with Akanishi was somehow turning out to be a very pleasant tradition. “And I haven’t looked like this forever you know, I was quite the sports fanatic in high school.”

“Ooh, did you win the girls’ championship in artistic gymnastics or something?” Jin asked, faking admiration.

“You twa- Oh forget about it... I’m not telling.”

“Tell me.” Jin was suddenly serious. “What sports did you do in high school?”

Kazuya glanced insecurely at the older man, trying to detect any hint of mockery but found none. “I played baseball, okay? I’m a pitcher mostly, I even got scouted for a professional team, but I had already gotten in to university... anyway, I’ve played in the world championship for juniors.”

“Oh, I see.” Jin nodded. “I used to do soccer myself.” He shrugged and smiled genuinely.

“No gay jokes? No ‘running after the other men’s balls’, ‘throwing yourself at the ground for other men’? I’m impressed, Akanishi. It seems you’ve become an adult since our last meeting,” Kazuya stated, patting him on his shoulder with an important look on his face.

“Shut up. I just thought it was to be taken for granted that you ‘play pitcher’ outside the game field as well.”

“Hey! I could sue you for harassment you know!”

Jin leaned closer and tilted his head with a smirk. “Really? Well go ahead and sue me. But that means you won’t get your official access to the crime scenes. I got the permission today but if you’re that bothered by my harassment, I could as well just throw it away.” Jin pushed his face closer to Kazuya’s and pouted.

“What?! You got what? That’s amazing! How did you do it? I was thinking I’d have to sneak around and break into crime scenes for the rest of this investigation,” Kazuya almost screamed, while jumping with excitement, forgetting everything about their previous argument.

“I know you think of me as a total moron but still I happen to know the right strings to pull.” Jin took out a plastic access card attached to a string to put around one’s neck with Kazuya’s name and face on it and swang it in front of the boy’s eyes.

Kazuya launched at it but Jin dodged and held it out of reach over his head, “Give it to me!” Kazuya barked, trying to jump high enough to grab it.

Jin laughed and kept the card at an unreachable height. Kazuya looked like a kindergartner whose lollipop had just been stolen by an older sibling.

“You look cute like that, Kame-chan,” Jin said teasingly and once again dodged the other’s attempts to get the card.

“I’m not cute, I’m a sought after baseball player and a genius! Now give me that access card or you’ll never catch that murderer!”

“Well, if you’re a genius, I’m sure you know the magic word you say when you want something. As your superior from this moment onwards, I should hammer some manners into you.”

He stopped jumping but kept quiet for a moment before he talked again with determination in his eyes.

“Please, Akanishi-sensei, will you hand me that access card?”

“I could get used to this,” Jin said lightly and dropped the card to Kazuya’s anxiously waiting hands.

Before Kazuya managed to thank him, one of the guests came crashing into the room yelling, “Ryo is having a showdown with the on-call force, someone called the cops!” Everybody started moving out through the narrow doorway and he was pushed along with them, Akanishi glued to his back. Someone was thoughtful enough to turn down the volume on the stereo and Ryo’s voice sounded throughout the house, getting stronger as Kazuya closed in on the front of it.

“Get your hands off him! He’s not going anywhere with you!” Ryo shouted as he launched at a police officer currently discussing something with Ueda.

“Mr. Nishikido we’re just-”

“I said BACK OFF you protocol humping baboons! You want a piece of me?! Well come get it!”

“They’re here because of the noise for gods sake! Ryo what are you-” Ueda started but got held up in trying to hold him still, preventing him from attacking the uniformed police officers standing in their hallway.

“You freaking urine gargling, testicle choking, nazi loving, child touching, monkey slapping, bastard screwing, bean shitting, ball licking, feces puking, dildo shoving bastards!” Ryo continued as he tried to get free from the grip Ueda and a few other guests had him in. “You’re not taking him away!”

“No one’s gonna take me away! What the fuck Ryo?!” Ueda shouted as he fervently shook his boyfriend, trying to make him come to his senses.

That was the last thing Kazuya saw of the spectacularly amusing argument before a strong hand pulled him out between some bystanders and out towards the backdoor.

“It’s gonna get ugly, we better leave,” Jin said as he guided Kazuya towards what he assumed was the back door. “Ryo is always like that when he’s drunk, picks fights and gets jealous of whoever dares to come close Ueda.”

“I noticed last year, though it was a bartender that got in his way that time, not the police,” Kazuya mused with a big smile, “how ironic isn’t that? A police officer getting arrested by another police officer.”

“He probably won’t get arrested. He’s in the homicide department after all, those in patrol wouldn’t dare. They will argue with Ueda for a good while before having make-up sex and Ryo will assumably pass out after that.” Jin opened the back door, located in the now empty living room since everyone was in the hallway witnessing the quarrel, excluding Horikita who was sitting exactly where Kazuya had last seen her, now with headphones in her ears, engrossed in the music.

“There’s a gate in the fence leading out to a back alley,” Kazuya told Akanishi and showed the way in between a small tree and a prickly bush. They walked in silence and left the house behind them, soon arriving at an empty playground amongst big lush trees. The autumn night was dark but not chilly, just perfect for nightly adventures.

Kazuya sat down on a swing, giving it a testing push with his legs,“I always loved these!”

Jin watched Kazuya and couldn’t help smiling at the sight. He looked cute. Jin circled behind Kazuya and pushed his back slightly, giving him speed to start swinging.

“I was thinking, you don’t look like a police at all. You look more like a celebrity... or maybe a soccer pro, but not a police officer.”

“I didn’t think I would end up to be an officer, either. I always wanted to become a singer. I’ve always loved western music, I wanted to go overseas and start making my own music.” Jin pushed more speed to Kazuya and smiled at the distant memories from his teenage years, caught up in the world of Kanye West, Eminem and Michael Jackson.

So he wasn’t completely off then, Kazuya thought and eased back on the swing as the other kept giving him speed. It didn’t explain everything though.

“How come you ended up as one then? A criminal detective or whatever it is you call yourselves,” Kazuya asked. 

“I think I was 19 or something, just graduated from high school. There was this girl in our neighbourhood. I didn’t know her nor did I ever talk to her, I just saw her every once in a while walking to school or playing outside. Then one day she disappeared. She was something like 10. She had apparently been playing outside and never came back. My parents volunteered and tried to search for her as well. Then, some weeks later, she was found. Her body, I mean.”

Jin stopped giving speed to Kazuya and squatted down to the ground. “Someone had strangled her to death after abusing her. The murderer wasn’t caught. The girl’s parents stopped living. Every time I saw them they looked like zombies. My parents didn’t let me or my sister out at all. It was a chaos. And when after a few weeks I realized that I would never see that girl going to school or happily playing tag with her friends, I decided what I wanted to do. I wanted to prevent that kind of thing from ever happening again.” Jin grew silent and stared to the ground, absent-mindedly delving out a cigarette from his pocket.

In an attempt to slow down his speed, Kazuya dug his heels into the soft sand and got to a stand still, watching how the officer fell silent and lit his cigarette.

“It’s very noble of you. I mean, I’ve heard you sing, you’re good. You could’ve gone there and lived your dream, but you choose something a little bit closer to your heart. I admire that... I think,” Kazuya said, giving the other one of his most honest smiles.

“I think I made the right choice, too. I mean, I might not be the smartest person possible to do this job but it feels right.” Jin smiled at Kazuya.

“Well then, I’ll-” Kazuya started but hesitated a little before he continued, “I’ll give you a hand with anything you’re not sure about. Not only about the murderer I’m interested in I mean, you can ask for advice concerning any case. It’s the least I can do.”

Jin got up and smirked before walking to Kazuya and poking his forehead. “Now, don’t get too arrogant,” he said jokingly. “Let’s go back, I’ll have to take Pi home before he starts harassing the secretary he has a crush on again.” Jin walked a few steps before stopping and turning to face Kazuya. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” The officer smiled timidly, his heart suddenly taking an extra beat. Trying to cover it up, he hurried to continue. “You might not be that obnoxious after all,” he said and laughed.

“No, I’m just emotionally handicapped and an insensitive prick. At least that’s what my professor tells me,” Kazuya answered and ran a few steps so he ended up alongside Akanishi.

“Seems like a wise professor,” Jin said and grinned. “I’ll take you home as well. Well, if you don’t want to stick around when Ueda and Ryo stop fighting and get it on that is.”

“Yeah, better steer clear of them after a night like this.”

A night of revelations, Kazuya thought to himself.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	4. Master and Pet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate) (a.k.a. Rika). I'm attempting to re-upload this story as rapidly as possible, but since it is quite long and I'm going to have to format a lot of text it's going to take a while. Please be patient with me 💜🙏 Here comes the fourth chapter!
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _March 3rd, 2012_

.

**Chapter 4 - Master and Pet**

Okay, he had been stupid. As a matter of fact he still couldn't believe he had been so careless. Well, when it came to realizations Jin knew that with his intellectual skills he ought to be satisfied that he had given it a thought in the first place, even if it was later rather than sooner. But still, the fact that he had let it slip so easily after his first encounter with Kazuya was a tough hit to his pride. The boy must have laughed at him the whole time and Jin couldn't blame him for that. But now he was determined to find out the truth; how had Kazuya known about the patterns that were sprayed on the wall beside the murdered priest?

Ueda or Ryo hadn't told him, he had questioned Ueda about it the day after he had first met Kazuya. After that stuff had just been piling up and as the second victim was discovered, Jin honestly hadn't had time to think about it so he let it slip. He couldn't, however, neglect it any longer if he wanted to keep working with the boy.

Jin was driving with a clear destination in mind. His navigator gave him directions with a dull female voice as he made his way towards the campus of the university Kazuya was going to. He was going to lure the truth out of him.

When Jin finally reached the parking lot of the campus, he gathered some stares with his white civil police car. It was barely eight in the morning and the yard was already full of people, dragging themselves towards the school with sleepy eyes. Jin hoped Kazuya hadn't gone already. He stepped out of the car and approached the first group of people he saw.

”Hey, you!” he said determinedly, causing the people to stop whatever they were discussing and watch him nervously.

”Yes?” a young woman finally dared to answer, a tiny hint of admiration in her gaze when observing the young, handsome police officer.

”Where can I find Kamenashi Kazuya's room?”

”Kamenashi?” The name rang some bells among the group, Jin could tell. Around him people started to whisper feverishly, without a doubt gossiping about the possible crimes Jin's freshly named work partner could have committed.

”Building C, fifth floor, room number 158,” the woman advised. Jin bowed and flashed a smile, causing her to blush, before starting to navigate towards the right building. He had some luck with him today, for he didn't have to question people further in order to find Kazuya's room.

Once finding the right room Jin noted that Kazuya had added a fourth character to the room’s number, making it 1582 just like in his mail address. Jin cleared his voice, suddenly feeling a frog in his throat, and knocked.

To his astonishment, when the door opened after some time, he didn’t see the familiar slim figure in the doorway but instead a chubby lady. Jin frowned. Was Kazuya into older, meaty women?

The woman observed him without an expression for a while, apparently waiting for him to voice out why he was there. After some time she got tired of the awkward silence.

“What business do you have here?” The voice was impatient, as if Jin had just interrupted something important.

“I’m looking for Kamenashi,” Jin tried to keep calm and sound professional.

“Well, I opened the door so you should consider using that brain of yours and conclude he’s not here.” Jin didn’t have time to get over his confusion before the woman had slammed the door shut.

The officer stared at the closed door in disbelief before slowly starting to see red. He knocked again. As the woman on the other side didn’t open up, he added more and more force to each knock until ending up slamming his fists against the wood.

After a good few minutes the woman finally swung the door open, staring at Jin with a pissed off expression.

“Would you stop making a scene, idiot?”

“I want to see Kamenashi,” Jin insisted with a stubborn voice. He had no intention of letting overweight ladies freely walk over him.

“I got that already but he is not here. Do you understand speech? If so, wait outside like a nice boy or get out.”

“Who the hell are you anyway?” Jin ignored the command and crossed his arms determinedly.

“Ooshima, Kame’s psychology professor.”

“Do professors just freely wander around their students’ rooms here?”

“Of course not, I broke in,” Ooshima said, rolling her eyes as if it was obvious.

“You broke in?” Jin was taken aback by the casual announcement. He was too astounded to even remember his position and arrest the lady. What kind of crazy professor was this woman?

“Yes, so unless you have some business with me, you could stop disturbing me. There’s a cafeteria downstairs, enjoy a cup of tea and come back later.”

“Wai-” Jin was cut mid-sentence by Ooshima once again swinging the door closed. He cursed and was just about to start abusing the wood once again when a familiar voice coming behind his back distracted him.

-

Kazuya had needed that run. Too much cluttering could never be good, his mind felt more organized and clear now after some exercise. The code was still running silently in the background of his thoughts, now and then popping up, making him conscious of it just to disappear seconds later. The numbers could mean anything, he thought, taking an extra look at the room numbers in the hallway as he walked towards his room, even room numbers. His peaceful state of mind was, however, more or less wound up again seconds later.

“Akanishi?” he asked as he stared at the officer standing in his doorway.

Jin turned abruptly and stood still for a while, lost for words. He stuttered lightly when finally speaking up.

“K-kamenashi, you’re back,” he said nervously and quickly lowered the fist he had raised just seconds ago in order to hit the door.

“I’m back, yes, but what are you doing here?” This whole situation was surreal, to have the officer here at his home was a whole different thing than to quarrel with him at crime scenes.

It took Jin a while to remember what his business actually was. He coughed lightly and scratched his head nervously. “Actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a long time...” Jin didn’t continue but took a calming breath, locking his eyes with Kazuya’s.

Jin had a funny look on his face, a look Kazuya wasn’t sure he liked. Memories from Ueda’s party came flooding back and certain comments Yamashita, that rude officer, had made was now all Kazuya could think of. What was Akanishi getting at anyway, looking all nervous and talking about questions like that? He stared back at the officer questioningly.

Jin had barely time to open his mouth for a continuation when a bored female voiced meddled in their conversation.

“There’s better places to ask someone out than the middle of the hallway.” Ooshima had opened the door and was now eyeing the two, a tiny hint of amusement visible in her features. “Now if you lovebirds will excuse me, I’ve got a class to attend. Outta my way.”

Jin froze, dumbfounded, his eyes widening as the professor’s words sank in. Ask Kazuya out? They looked like lovebirds? The officer opened his mouth, though not managing to voice anything out.

“Hey! What were you doing in my dorm room?!” Kazuya bolted at her, but Ooshima just walked out and started down the hallway with a quickened pace, waving a book back at him which he recognized as his own.

Ooshima had almost disappeared from sight when Jin finally got his ability to speak back.

“I wasn’t going to ask him out!” he shrieked with all his might, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. The professor didn’t react to the officer’s words in any way but continued walking until she disappeared to the stairway.

“Are you crazy? I LIVE here, can you stop making a fool out of yourself, please?” Kazuya hissed at the officer, pulling at his arm to get his attention.

“Who is that annoying meatball?” Jin asked angrily, ignoring Kame’s comment.

“She’s not a meatball you prick, she’s my psychology professor, Ooshima. What on earth are you so upset about?” Kazuya was trying really hard to understand Akanishi, it would benefit their work if he did, but this was getting far too complicated for him.

“What an annoying piece of fat,” Jin murmured, glancing at the stairway Ooshima had disappeared to before turning back to Kazuya. “Does that freak break in often?”

It was like the caring and empathic officer Kazuya had heard telling him the reasons why he had wanted to be a police officer had disappeared right out the window. Kazuya could feel his blood boiling at the comments Jin made about Ooshima. He could tolerate stupidity, but hurtful words like that would never fly by him.

“You call her a freak again and I swear I’ll destroy your sorry excuse of a career,” Kazuya almost whispered, staring at the officer with all the fury he felt shining through his eyes.

“You’re actually defending that in-breaking freak?” Jin asked in anger. “And you can spare your threats, if I’m out of the case, that means you’ll be, too.”

“I was doing fine by my own, remember? I don’t need your help to get what I want. This isn’t about me either you know! Will you stop calling my professor a freak? She’s the most sought after authority when it comes to psychology in Japan, and yes, she DOES break into my dorm. I can’t see how that’s any of YOUR business!” Kazuya answered back, getting more and more confused over Jin’s anger by the second.

“I’m a police officer, it’s my business because it’s my JOB to meddle with criminals. And in case you didn’t know, breaking into someone’s room is illegal. Are you really alright with that woman entering your personal space without permission? Are you that close?” Jin said, the volume of his voice rising second by second.

Now what was he hinting at? Yamashita’s face appeared in Kame’s mind again, those embarrassing comments about him and the other officer replaying over and over again. He couldn’t be? There was no way Akanishi was jealous.

“No, I’m not okay with her breaking into my room. But this isn’t about that, it’s about you calling a professor I respect a freak and standing here making a spectacle out of yourself like some envious girl.”

“I’m NOT envious! Why would I be? She can break in all she wants, I’m not interested since you don’t want me to stop it as a police officer. I don’t care,” Jin said poisonously, not speaking loud anymore but instead with a low, dangerous voice.

“I- You know what? I think this is enough,” Kazuya answered with a tired sigh, the fight was obviously not getting anywhere while Akanishi just caved in the moment he applied some pressure. Kazuya could take a hint, the officer wasn’t going to tell him what bothered him at all. Something he actually found kind of hurtful.

“What was it you wanted to ask me?”

Jin glared at Kazuya. He didn’t feel like asking anymore. The determination he had felt when coming here had vanished and at the moment he just wanted to sulk and smoke.

“Nevermind,” Jin muttered and marched off, his shoulder accidentally pushing Kazuya when passing the boy. He didn’t stop to apologize but continued striding away angrily.

It felt like he was hit by a truck as the officer pushed past him. Somehow, in order to defend his professor, Akanishi had gotten incredibly offended by him doing so and the worst part of it was that Kazuya actually felt guilty for it. Acting on instinct, something he was starting to do more often after that night at the site of the burned priest, he ran into his room and grabbed some clean clothes, shoes and threw them into a bag before he grabbed his phone and slammed his door shut.

A sense of thrill hit him when he was outside the dorm running after the officer that was almost at his car now. Something he hardly felt when not sitting in front of his beloved computers at home. It was a bubbling feeling.

“Wait!” Kazuya yelled in order to stop Akanishi before he got into his car and drove away. He took a few long leaps and halted at the officers side. “I need to go to the station, right? So you should drive me there.”

Jin stared at Kazuya in astonishment. He had run after him? Jin suddenly felt stupid for acting in such a childish manner just now. Why was it always Kazuya who stopped their arguments? He was the older one and the one in charge of Kazuya with the case, according to all logic he should be the mature one out of them two but still time after time he succeeded in being the bigger idiot.

“Okay, get in,” Jin said and flashed a tiny smile before getting in his car.

Kazuya smiled back before he ran to the other side of the car and got in, his bag in his knee.

“I’ll need to take a shower,” he stated as Jin had gotten in at the drivers side, ”I came back from a run when I saw you outside my door,” he hurriedly explained with blushing cheeks. He could almost feel the sweat dripping from the tips of his hair now after running to the car.

“Sure thing. Though, you look charming like that as well,” Jin teased, instantly noting what he had just said. He blushed and hastily turned on the radio to cover up the awkward silence followed by his words.

-

Jin was leaning against the wall outside the shower, listening to the water running. Kazuya took long showers, it had been almost 20 minutes since he had disappeared into the tiny tile-covered room. It was too early for any of his colleagues to use the gym to which the changing rooms and showers were attached so none of the lockers besides the one Kazuya had stuffed his clothes in were in use.

Jin still wasn’t quite over his embarrassment. He was the ultimate master of unintentional harassment, it seemed. Well, hopefully Kazuya hadn’t taken Yamapi’s and Ooshima’s comments too seriously. He certainly didn’t want to look like some attracted schoolgirl to the other boy now that he was already questioning his abilities as an officer.

Finally the water stopped running and not too long after Kazuya appeared to the dressing room, drops of water dripping from his hair with only a towel around his hips. Jin found himself gulping and getting intrigued by the sight. Seeing the boy like that Jin could immediately tell the boy did work out. His body was slim but wiry with small but well-trained muscles and incredibly tiny waist.

“Ehrm... Akanishi? Would you mind to...” Kazuya said while signaling the other to at least turn around as he dried himself off and changed into clothes. He wasn’t sure if his heart could take more blushing after a day like this one.

Jin stood stunned for a second before blushing for the umpteenth time that day.

“Oh, of course! Sorry!” he babbled quickly and stumbled out of the dressing room into the hallway, closing the door with a slam and leaning against it. He was such a moron! No matter how normal he tried to act, he ended up behaving like some creep only waiting for his opportunity to jump on Kazuya.

“Okay, I’m finished,” Kazuya said from inside the locker room, as if to tell Akanishi it would be a good idea to stop blocking the door. His voice a bit muted considering the material that lay between them.

Jin stepped away from the door and as soon as Kazuya was out, started to make his way towards his office with the smaller man beside him.

“So, I guess you want to take a look at the autopsy report of that woman? Horikita got it finished just yesterday evening,” Jin said, trying to sound calm in order to avoid making things more awkward between them.

“Wow, that was fast,” Kazuya said with a smile, “I was hoping I would at least get to take a look at her, but then I won't have to. There’s some things I’ve been wondering about. I’m sure the answers are in the autopsy.”

“Well, if they’re not, I think I could persuade Horikita into letting you take a look at the body. She hasn’t been transported yet after all,” Jin said with a shrug. “Though, Horikita’s reports have always been flawless.”

“I’m sure they have, no need for you to convince her of anything, the autopsy will work just fine,” Kazuya hurriedly explained. The thought of meeting that weird Horikita wasn’t really an uplifting one. If he could he wanted to avoid her for as long as possible.

“Okay, got it.” Jin grinned at the way Kazuya dodged the opportunity to work with Horikita. Well, it had taken some time for him as well to get used to the weird lady when starting to work at the station, but only a couple of autopsies had been enough to convince him about the pathologist’s brilliant professionalism.

“Would you like coffee or something?” Jin asked as they passed the caféteria located near his office.

“No, I’m fine, caffeine just messes with me. Destroys the rhythm.” Kazuya didn’t even think twice before answering even though he had been out on a long run early in the morning.

“Okay, then let’s get straight to my office.” Jin took the last steps before opening his door and holding it open for Kazuya. “In you go, kiddo.”

The office looked exactly like it had done when Kazuya came there the first time. The desk was cluttered with files, books and loose papers, a file cabinet standing in the far left corner beside the only and very narrow window. He couldn’t help himself but to smile wryly as he remembered how the officer had been sleeping on the couch beside the door. He kept the smile on as he flopped down on it himself and looked with expectation at Jin. “The autopsy?” he asked and held out his hand.

“Yeah, wait,” Jin hurried to his desk and started to burrow through the endless piles of messily organized papers, throwing away used disposable coffee mugs. After minutes and minutes of searching he finally sprang in front of Kazuya with the file in hand, looking awfully much like a dog who had just fetched the ball his owner had thrown with his wide and proud eyes, an expression almost looking like he was waiting for a treat.

Kazuya took the file and gave the officer a suspicious look from under his bangs, “what are you waiting for? Get some work done, you’ve got a chaos to get sorted over at that desk,” he muttered while whispering things about unprofessional crime solvers under his breath.

Jin’s proud, dog-like expression turned into one resembling a kicked puppy. He pouted and dragged himself back to the desk, starting to silently put the papers back in piles, not bothering to make them any tidier than they had been before.

The autopsy sure was interesting, it only took Kazuya a few minutes to confirm his own suspicions and get some question marks straightened out. With a quick look at Akanishi he decided to let the officer hang another minute or so before he told him about his thoughts. He browsed through the file and ended up at the very last pages where Horikita or someone else had attached a dozen photos of the victim’s body. She had been hit with a blunt object, traumas noticeable at the side and the back of her head, the one on the back almost cracking her skull wide open. Then there were bruising at her wrists and off course the gruesome lacerations to her abdomen. It wasn’t a pretty picture even though the lady in question was that kind of woman that must’ve looked stunning while alive. It was with a slightly queasy stomach Kazuya let his eyes leave the pages to call upon Akanishi’s attention.

“We’ve got a true mystery on our hands about this killing,” he stated before he got back on his feet and walked up to the other man who was peaking at him from over a slanted pile of files, “the murderer planned the murder so it would be over as quickly as possible, but then he took his time spraying the code on that wall... it doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“Yeah, Horikita mentioned something about it, too. She said the way that woman was murdered was ‘despising’. Maybe the killer held some personal grudge against the lady? But what for?”

“I’ll have to make a complete background check on her later...” Kazuya whispered to himself while starting to pace up and down the cramped office. “It’s things like these that are important, no, they’re vital for finding out motives” Kazuya continued and gave Akanishi a long look. “Things like these are those very things you guys usually just ignore.”

“Well, good to have you here, then,” Jin said, hiding skillfully his annoyance. He wouldn’t lose his temper with the boy the second time in just a couple of hours.

“Where’s the photographs from the crime scene?” Kazuya asked while still pacing back and forth, “I think we need to take a look at it again to see if we missed something.”

Jin went back to his desk just to delve it upside down again before placing the file containing the photos in Kazuya’s hand, smiling hopefully. Maybe he would get a word of approval this time.

His hopes were completely shattered as Kazuya just raised one of his perfectly trimmed eyebrows and took the file without acknowledging his accomplishment.

The first few hundred of the photographs were mainly facing brick walls. Bricks from every angle imaginable. The whole thing made Kazuya sigh as he thought back to that afternoon at the crime scene when Jin had been mysteriously wired up.

“Don’t even think about using that man at the crime scenes anymore,” he stated and browsed through the photos until he reached the ones that were focused on the wall with the blood and the codes. As he remembered it, the codes were clearly sprayed there after the woman was killed.

“We don’t usually,” Jin rushed to defend himself. “The guy who usually does the job was having a day off.” Jin leaned forward to observe the photos as well. He had, of course, gone through them earlier, but he was curious to know if the boy would find anything outstanding from them.

“So, anything that gets your attention?”

“Well, she had been sitting down against the wall before she stood up, or was pulled up, and then she was slashed open while standing. She must’ve been really out of it considering the force that was used to hit her in the head so she probably didn’t even scream. I think the numbers were sprayed on after she was killed too, but that’s more or less obvious. I concur with Horikita’s choice of weapon, it’s probably a thin, long and sharp blade. Something like a letter opener, but very sharp-” Kazuya stopped abruptly when he noticed that he was talking faster and faster in order to get all of his thoughts out of his head.

“So nothing we haven’t noticed already,” Jin summed up before walking to the door. “I’m gonna get myself some coffee and breakfast. Anything you’d like? Juice or candy?”

“Candy?” Kazuya asked disbelievingly. No one seemed to think he was older than ten in this place. “No, no, I’m fine, I’ll just start looking through all the stuff you’ve got piled up from the Endo-case,” he added and turned his back to the officer. He wasn’t going to let Akanishi’s condescending comments ruin his flow, not now when he had just started to get warmed up.

Jin walked back to Kazuya just to pat him on the head as annoyingly as possible before leaving. When he came back, he dropped a sachet of brightly coloured candies onto Kazuya’s lap with a wide grin.

It took Kazuya all the self-restraint he possessed not to jump at the officer right there and then, instead he smiled, showing his canine teeth. “How did you know? They’re my favorites,” he said as ironically as possible before he got back to sorting through a file.

-

The hours passed fairly quick after Akanishi had gotten the hint and stayed out of his way, though he now and again left the office, asking Kazuya if he wanted anything from the cafeteria. They didn’t have any breakthroughs either, and the officer had almost seemed smug when Kazuya told him that he hadn’t managed to break the code yet. He knew that this was only a game he played in order to get back at Kazuya for making him dispensable, but it riled him up anyway. At the end of the day he was even more determined than ever to show Akanishi what he was made of.

Something he wouldn’t get the chance to do today. At half past four a young police peeked into the office and told them that Matusmoto had called for a meeting in the large auditorium and that’s where they were on their way to now.

“Let’s go. Time to get you introduced to the people here,” Jin said and strode to the door. He led the way to the large auditorium that was already full of people.

“Jin!” Yamapi shouted from the very back row and the officer wasted no time in walking there and sitting down with Kazuya behind him.

“I see you took the runt with you,” Pi said and watched the young boy in amusement.

Kazuya was just about to bite back when a man with an amazingly polished perm and what looked like a Gucci suit grabbed him by his hand and shook it fervently.

“I’m so glad I’ve finally gotten a chance to meet you Kamenashi-san, I’ve got a few members of the board that are dying to get to know you a little better,” the man said with a white idol-like smile. “I’m going to steal him away from you for a moment,” Matsumoto added in the direction of no on in particular, “I’m going to introduce him to everybody.”

It wasn’t that hard recognizing Jin’s superior from the newspaper article Ueda had e-mailed him. So this was the man that was said to have revolutionised the department for crimes of violence and murder, Kazuya thought as he was dragged to the front of the auditorium by the taller man.

“I’m pleased to tell you everybody that the project I’ve been planning for a while now is in progress and this here is the result of it,” Matsumoto started as the room fell silent. Kazuya could only roll his eyes at the way he took the honor of something that had absolutely nothing to do with him, this was how things worked.

“His name is Kamenashi Kazuya, some might recognize him as Ueda’s cousin. He’ll be a consultant working with Akanishi on his cases, a reinforcement if that’s how you’d like to look at it.”

The room was buzzing with curiosity but Matsumoto ignored it and just pushed Kazuya back towards the seats before heading back and beginning the real meeting.

A good hour later Kazuya was sitting beside Akanishi and Yamashita as they talked with some other people from their division and the laboratory in addition to Ryo and Ueda. The strange Horikita was there again together with that wimp Nakamaru from the crime scene and a tall man that introduced himself as Taguchi. Kazuya remembered him well from last year’s party, his extremely bad jokes had left an impression on him that was hard to surpass.

Amongst them also sat a young and really beautiful woman that Yamashita couldn’t seem to stop flirting with, however bleak his prospects were. She was the one that had shown him to Jin’s office that first time, Kazuya now remembered. It seemed like she was one of the officer’s middle management’s secretary, an angry young man called Ando. Kazuya could hear, all the way from the front of the auditorium, that he was currently discussing something wildly with Matsumoto.

“So, newbie...” Pi slumped beside Kazuya and circled his arm around his shoulders. “We should celebrate the fact that you’ll entertain us with that smartass personality of yours...” He winked at Jin. “So how about going to a bar with us?”

“You’re taking a kid to a bar?” Kazuya asked jokingly with one eyebrow raised suggestively.

“Kame-chan please come!” Ueda shrieked and bounced a little on the spot, clearly enjoying the prospect of getting to hang out with his favorite cousin.

“So it’s settled,” Pi said in satisfaction. He turned to Koyuki, who was packing her stuff and about to leave.

“Want to come too, Ko-chan?” he asked and smiled in a flirting manner. The woman blushed.

“I don’t know if I should, I have some work to finish...”

Pi was just about to start pleading with determination when a surprised gasp from Koyuki disturbed his train of thoughts.

“If you don’t want to go, you can always come handle some paperwork with me. In private,” Ando said with a flattering tone, his arm locked around his secretary’s waist.

Jin was quick to take action. He marched to Koyuki and pulled him away from Ando’s indecently placed arms with a grim face.

“I think she wants to join us,” he said while fearlessly locking his eyes with Ando’s, not trying to hide his disgust. Ando answered to the glare with contempt before walking off. Koyuki muttered a quiet “thank you” as the bunch started to walk off, Jin not letting go of Koyuki’s arms until there was a fair distance between them and Ando.

Impressive, was the only thing Kazuya could think as they started to move towards the exit. He fell into the back of the group and watched Akanishi’s broad shoulders from behind. It had been over before it even started and the officer had without a single hesitation went up against his superior like that. It seemed like Akanishi had a very strong sense of justice and duty, going up against Ando like that for a woman’s sake. Kazuya found himself hoping that he himself was included in that group of people Akanishi deemed it necessary to protect because he didn’t want to be the enemy of a man like him.

The happening in the auditorium kept Kazuya so deeply immersed in his thoughts that he barely noticed that they had arrived at a bar not too far from the police station. It was a bit smoky in the big room but except for a few men at the bar counter it was very quiet. The group moved to the back and that’s when Kazuya noticed that they weren’t completely alone in the back.

Hunched over a tall glass sat a dangerous looking man with his bleached hair combed back. There were tattoos visible on his neck and on his knuckles, he had more than a few piercings in his ears and his whole being screamed “criminal”. Except for the fact that Yamashita and Ryo were smiling widely before they both gave him a manly hug and, along with the rest of the group, sat down next to him.

“Kame, this is Tanaka Koki,” Ryo stated proudly and signaled for him to come shake the man’s hand. Afraid to do anything but to obey Kazuya stepped forward and took the tattooed hand into his.

“Undercover,” Jin whispered to Kazuya before straightening up. “What would you like to drink? I’m buying since I can’t let ladies pay for anything. It’s my principle.”

“Jin you just blew all the chances you had at getting laid tonight,” Koki said with a grin revealing that a few of his teeth glistened with gold.

“Huh? Getting laid? I don’t- I have no intention of... Anything like that! Why would you think that, Koki? I just asked what he wants to drink.” Jin laughed nervously in between babbling.

“You really are stupid,” Koki sighed dramatically and took a sip of his tall drink. “I’m just playing with you, it’s the best thing I know, seeing you all stuttering like a school girl. Well, best thing after actually having a stuttering school girl,” he added with another wide grin. Kazuya couldn’t help himself but to stare at him, his presence was captivating.

“So you’re off duty right now?” Ryo asked, ignoring the confused looking Jin.

“Yeah, Fujiwara is keeping an eye on movements for me. He’s a good kid when it comes to keeping an eye on people.” Koki said, eyes transfixed at Jin.

“Another... one like you?” Kazuya dared to ask after wording his question carefully.

Koki shifted his attention from Jin to Kazuya, looking a bit amused. “No, nothing like me, scum of the earth more or less. But pretty handy and he’s loyal when there’s money to be made.”

“He means Fujiwara’s a snitch. A backstabber but bribeable so basically a good catch to be lured into ratting,” Jin meddled in.

“Oh,” Kazuya exclaimed, never breaking his eye contact with Koki. “I think I’ll have a beer,” he added, obviously meant for Akanishi.

Jin narrowed his eyes as he observed Kazuya, who was totally caught by Koki. Who did that brat think he was, ignoring him and then just ordering him around like some French maid out of a porn film? Suddenly he didn’t feel like buying the beer for Kazuya.

“Get it yourself,” Jin announced coldly before changing seats, going to chat up with Pi, who didn’t seem too pleased with the way the officer interrupted his and Koyuki’s chat.

Kazuya stared at Akanishi as he left the table for the neighbouring one. The officer was obviously irritated but Kazuya couldn’t get to grips on why. He had been so proud of him seconds ago and now he seemed like he wanted nothing but to get as far away from him as possible. This whole thing made him even more confused than the code they had received by the murderer.

“Don’t worry, he’s just being a total girl,” Koki said, making Kazuya shift his attention back to the undercover officer, “I’ll get you that drink myself.”

“No, that’s not necessary, I can manage perfectly well on my own,” Kazuya hurriedly added before bowing shortly and left the table for the bar counter.

“Why did you come here so suddenly? I thought you liked clinging to that brat. You really alright with Koki stealing him away from you?” Pi teased and nudged Jin with his elbow. Jin glared at him murderously before grabbing his drink without a word and downing it in a second.

“Hey, idiot! You’re the driver for the month!” Pi hit Jin in the head.

“You live only a hundred yards from here, walk home,” Jin said and walked to the desk to have more to drink just to find Kazuya there. He sighed and tried his best to ignore the boy.

Kazuya could feel Akanishi walking up to the counter even without looking, it was something about that pricking feeling of disappointment the officer seemed to have oozing out of every poor. He needed to stay completely calm, these were the people he was going to work with and he didn’t need anyone else than Yamashita up against him. If he hadn’t known Akanishi for as long as he now had, he would’ve thought that the office hated him as well.

His drinks came to his rescue and before Akanishi got the chance to take his irritation out on him, Kazuya grabbed them and walked back to the table where Koki was now doing an impromptu act with Nakamaru.

Jin downed three shots on the counter before returning to his table with a glass of beer in each hand.

Impromptu act turned into a well prepared routine and soon the room was filled with Koki’s daring and raunchy rap lyrics accompanied by Nakamaru’s beatboxing. As the evening passed and a few litres of beer later, the group grew noisy and Kazuya could entertain himself with watching how the police officers loosened up and started mingling with the rest of the bar’s visitors. One of them, however, was stubbornly keeping to himself at the bar counter, poised on top of one of those dangerously tall bar stools.

It was a miracle that he was still sitting upright considering that Kazuya had seen him drink more than he had ever seen anyone drink before. Akanishi must have an incredible tolerance for coping with that much, Kazuya noted but immediately had to take it back as the officer slumped dangerously low on his stool.

Akanishi wasn’t the only one being drunk, Yamashita had drowned his sorrows of Koyuki not responding to his courtship in tequila and Ryo was feeling Ueda up on the small dance floor, obviously at least as drunk as at Ueda’s party. But Kazuya lost track of what everybody else was doing when Akanishi swayed to his left only to regain his balance a moment later.

Jin got onto his feet, staying still for a moment to regain the balance so persistently fleeing from him. After feeling sure enough he locked his eyes with Kazuya’s and stumbled to him, knocking down a couple of empty chairs on the way before sitting beside the boy and instantly clinging to him.

“You’re mean, Kazuya,” Jin pouted and clumsily nuzzled his face against the said boy’s neck.

“Akanishi?! What the f-” Kazuya started, almost screaming, but calmed down in order to not draw anymore attention to the spectacle.

“You just keep ignoring me unless you want something from me. Files or beer or access to crime scenes or something else you feel like having,” Jin whined, his voice muffled against Kazuya’s skin. “I feel like your dog,” he finished, sounding offended.

“You’re dead drunk Akanishi, get off me will you?” Kazuya said, completely ignoring the drunk rambles.

“You hate me don’t you? I’m the stupid giant you just have to keep around even though it’s a nuisance since I’m your access to the crime scenes,” Jin sniffled, not registering Kazuya’s words nor letting go of him.

“I’ve said no such thing!” He could ignore much but he couldn’t stand self-pity like this. Kazuya started pushing the much larger and much heavier man off him.

Jin retreated a little and leveled his head with Kazuya’s, trying to gain eye contact with him but failing since his drunk eyes kept closing on their own.

“I don’t hate you even if you hate me,” Jin stated firmly, an ominous tingle flashing in his eyes before he suddenly cupped Kazuya’s head and leaned forward, placing his lips on the boy’s.

It took Kazuya a few seconds to register what was going on and when it finally hit him that Akanishi was trying to sneak his tongue into his mouth he felt fury building up from the depths of his being. He placed his hands on the officer’s shoulders and pushed the older man off him with a force he usually reserved solely for batting on the baseball field.

“YOU- YOU IDIOT!” he shouted after wiping his lips with the end of his sweater. Kazuya spared no second glance for Akanishi as he stormed away towards the rest rooms.

How could he? How could he do that to him while he was completely up for defending a woman against his boss just hours earlier? Kazuya was angry and hurt and everything at the same time as he pushed the door open to the men’s room and set course towards the sinks. A loud moan and a thud snapped him directly back to reality.

At the far end of the row of stalls, Ryo had pressed Ueda up against the tiled wall and was more or less having him right there. Kazuya stared in horror as Ueda, his favorite cousin, was a shivering mess under Ryo’s hands and lips. The shock made Kazuya take a step into the air and he stumbled towards a sink, making more ruckus than he thought himself able to do all by himself.

“Kame?!” Ueda asked as he pushed past Ryo, “what is it, what are you doing in here?” he added worriedly, sitting down on his knees in front of Kazuya.

“He kissed me!” Kazuya cried out, eyes big in shock, “that bastard kissed me!”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	5. Challenging a Turtle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate) (a.k.a. Rika). I'm attempting to re-upload this story as rapidly as possible, but since it is quite long and I'm going to have to format a lot of text it's going to take a while. Please be patient with me 💜🙏 Here comes the fifth chapter!
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _March 22nd, 2012_

.

**Chapter 5 - Challenging a Turtle**

"Make sure to get that drunk idiot home safely," Pi reminded Kazuya as he stuck his head through the open cab window with an annoying grin on his face. He didn't seem to waste any opportunity to piss the younger one off, for a reason Kazuya couldn't point out, so he had pushed the boy into the same taxi as Jin instead of letting him go with Ryo and Ueda.

“Hey! Yamashita! Get back here! Why is it ME that’s stuck with him?!” Kazuya shouted when Yamashita stepped back from the car.

“Because he’s too drunk to get home by himself and I live just down the street. Besides, you should be grateful that I offer you an opportunity for a continuation to that little-” Pi ended the sentence by kissing the air and winking.

His life had surely gone to the dumps after he met the police officers he was now working with. It was with much restraint that Kazuya prevented himself from jumping out the car to give Yamashita a good beating. Instead he pushed the clinging Akanishi off his arm and leaned forward to the cab driver, telling him Akanishi’s address.

Jin, however, didn’t seem to take the hint of backing off but dramatically threw himself at Kazuya, keeping his palms flat against his own chest to mimic a dog.

“Wan wan, pet me!” he yelled cheerfully and stuck his tongue out to pant like a dog. Before Kazuya had time to stop him, he had already licked his cheek affectionately.

“Akanishi!” Kazuya bellowed and tried to get out of the much bigger man’s grip. He didn’t even want to think about how this might look from the cab drivers point of view. This whole dog-thingy had gotten completely out of hands.

Jin pouted and started yelping like a sad puppy, forcing his head under Kazuya’s palm to make him pet him.

“Master hates me?” he asked while watching the boy with big, sad eyes from under his hand.

Kazuya threw a worried glance towards the cab driver’s thin staring eyes in the rear view mirror and decided that he needed to address Akanishi’s newly found fetish for playing with a dog before they got thrown out of the car somewhere in the middle of some run down, dangerous neighbourhood.

“Listen to me carefully, you’re not a dog, I’m not your master and I do not hate you. Okay? All good now? Can you go back to being a sensible idiot instead of a weirdo?” he asked, holding the officers head firmly between his hands.

Jin suddenly launched forward and peeked at the driver between the front seats.

“I’m a fucking police and I command you to tune off this grandpa station this instant!” he said with a serious tone.

“This is not a radio station, the talking is coming from the cab station so I know where I can pick up customers,” the driver said with a grumpy tone, not even glancing at Jin.

“Well, turn on the radio, then!” Jin said cheerfully.

“No.”

“You old, grumpy joy-killer! When was the last time you got laid?”

The driver stayed silent with a peeved expression on. Jin gave up after some time and drew back.

“Fine! I’ll make my own music, then!” he announced stubbornly.

“I’ll take you to the candy shop, I’ll let you lick the lollipop!” Jin’s voice was awfully off-tune and all the thoughts Kazuya had had about Jin being a good singer vanished immediately. Just when Kazuya was about to tell the man to shut that too big mouth of his, Jin suddenly grabbed his shirt and took it off. The boy had just enough time to prevent him from throwing it on the taxi driver’s head and possibly cause a crash.

“No!” Kazuya whined while trying to force the shirt back over Akanishi’s head. He was getting awfully tired of the officer’s drunken state. “Why are you doing this to me?” he whimpered when his attempts failed.

“Because I like you!”

The explanation made no sense but Jin was too drunk to care. He clung to Kazuya once again with his arms circled around his waist.

“You’re so smart, Kaz-” Jin stopped to burp. Kazuya glanced worriedly around the cab to see if there was a bag anywhere in case the officer had to throw up. He found none and sighed. He seriously hoped the man wouldn’t vomit, getting puke all over his clothes was the climax for the night he didn’t want to experience.

“Give me some of your wisdomm~” Jin half-sang and snuggled Kazuya tightly.

“You made it this far, right? No need for being dysfunctional like me,” Kazuya reasoned.

Akanishi’s begging voice served more of a reminder of how cruel school children could be than to flatter him. He hated when people said things like that, he hated it even more when people did it with an accusing tone. However, the officer’s tone was warm and sweet, making Kazuya’s stomach clench.

“I’m sleepy,” Jin whined and placed his head on Kazuya’s lap, his breathing slowing down the second he closed his eyes.

The younger one blushed instantly and tried to push his head off his lap. This was something girls always dreamt of having their boyfriends do and Kazuya was nowhere near being a girl.

“I think we’re almost at your place now, then you can sleep,” Kazuya lectured, hiding his red cheeks in the shadows of the car.

Jin mumbled something incoherent, stuck his hand to his pocket and took out a 10,000 yen note. He searched for some time before finding what he assumed was Kazuya’s pocket and stuffed the money in it, not opening his eyes to see that he had, in fact, put it inside the boy’s pants instead.

“For the cab,” he said sleepily, not intending to raise his head anytime soon.

If Kazuya had learnt something from these past weeks it was that he needed to pick his battles. He quietly retrieved the bill and reconciled with the fact that Akanishi, as it seemed, wasn’t planning on moving his head off his lap anytime soon. At this point he just wanted to get Akanishi home as quickly as possible before he got himself to his dorm and treated himself to a long shower. There was so much he needed to wash away about this night, not just kisses and getting his face licked. He had never felt this intruded upon before, he wasn’t used to it, and Akanishi’s clinging and mood changes was getting to him. God, he really wanted that shower.

“Your thighs are warm,” Jin muttered, sounding more sober than he had done during the whole taxi drive.

A warm blush spread across Kazuya’s cheeks. He couldn’t help it at all anymore, he was at the mercy of Akanishi’s whims.

“Sorry,” Jin suddenly said. “I’m always like this when I-” he didn’t complete the sentence but instead curled up even more and let the sleepiness take over him completely.

-

It wasn’t until he put his towel down after a long shower that Kazuya noticed the small notification light blinking in blue on his phone. Three new mails. He touched the notification on his screen and watched as the mail inbox opened up. Unknown sender. There was no information at all about them, it was like they had magically manifested themselves in his inbox, something he himself had never seen before. Another touch and the first one opened up.

_You’re slow._  
_Why are you so slow when the answer is right before your eyes?_

The writhing and prickling realization spread from the depths of his stomach up to his brain, he stared wide-eyed at the mail. A minute ago he had been tired to his bones, now he felt adrenaline rushing through his veins, making him shake while he clenched his left fist. He instantly knew who had sent the mail.

Determined to end his misery as quickly as possible he went back to the inbox and opened the second mail. This one wasn’t much better than the first one.

_Slow as a turtle._

Kazuya stared at this one as well, constantly swallowing to get rid of the metallic taste that made his mouth go dry. Okay, the murderer knew his name, that was suspected considering he had gotten a hold on his e-mail, considering he knew that he; not a police officer, worked on the case. This killer proved to be a formidable opponent, he had made the right choice in getting himself involved.

The last and third mail was still marked “unread”, almost mocking him with its mere presence, in his inbox. This time he felt almost calm opening it, he felt sure that this was the right job for him to do, he was meant to take on the task.

_So slow._  
_You of all people should be able to see the code for what it is._

He was getting mocked for sure. But he wasn’t going to silently take it. Not giving a damn about the fact that he was standing naked in his combined bedroom/kitchen/living room, he put his phone down and grabbed his laptop from his bed, walking straight to the small room connected with the bigger on. The door was as always locked and the room behind it was chilly and dark, just like he liked it. He had goosebumps as he sat down in front of his beloved machines and started them up along with his laptop.

What did he mean? Kazuya wrapped his brain around the words in the last mail. What was he supposed to see, what was it that he of all people was supposed to see? Numbers could be so many things, they could be anything, but what would he see them as if he thought of them as himself? One of his computers made a weak crackling noise, a noise he had learned to love. He loved computers and everything that had to do with them, he knew what language they spoke and it made him feel like less of a loner. If he of all people should know then it had something with computers to do. So he looked at the code, printed out on papers hanging on the wall above his four computer screens, and he saw.

With a big bubble of excitement in his stomach, one that had taken the place of the previous discomfort, he started a web browser and entered the numbers hidden in the code as an URL.

Of course there would be another task to complete. A login-screen appeared and asked for his username and password. Considering that the last mail had held important information he figured the first two would too. What was it again? He was slow, just like a turtle. Anything was worth a try at this point, because he doubted his software would be any useful cracking the locked page.

With clammy and cold hands he entered the first things he could think of, “slow” as user name and “turtle” as password. After a deep breath he pressed enter, seconds later the login-screen shifted and changed. Success.

The instant the page loaded he was met with the sound of someone pleading, whimpering, for his life, the whole page was black except for a video streaming window. Someone, a naked man, was lying curled up in the corner of a concrete walled room. The bubble of excitement burst and he was once again staring with his eyes opened wide. They had hit the jackpot, this killer was someone sick beyond repair.

Kazuya suspected that his chest would cave in any moment considering the force and the speed of his heartbeats, fear, disgust and thrill moving in waves across his body. He felt like throwing up, because this was meant for him to see and him alone. It was like the killer put on a show for him, a show using an innocent man. He couldn’t let this pass by him, he was going to fight it.

There was a sudden movement on the screen to his left. Kazuya was currently working on breaking his way into the page on the right one, or at least tracking down something even remotely close to an IP address, so far completely unsuccessful. The movement proved to be a white paper the gagged man in his forties held up, he was shaking violently making the paper shudder and blur.

_Countdown starts now._  
_Ready?_

He had just managed to read the text as water came flying in from the direction of the camera. By the way the man tensed up and shaked it was boiling hot. Kazuya’s converted bedroom was now filled with the heartbreaking whimpering of the torture victim, a sharp “fuck” of his own cutting through it.

This wasn’t working, it was a race against the clock and he needed backup. With a quick look at the watch he realized that three and a half hours had passed since he read the first mail. Akanishi would be up, Akanishi was on his way to his shift, no matter what degree of hangover he wouldn’t skip work. He spared the continuing torture of the man on his screens no second glance as he darted back to his big room and grabbed his phone, quickly looking through his contacts after the one contact he hadn’t ever wanted to use again after the events of this night. Now he couldn’t even remember why he had been so frustrated, he just wanted the big steady brute on his side.

-

Jin answered the phone with a grim tone.

“What do you want? My head is killing me and Pi won’t stop following me and grinning like a retard, saying I ‘fucked up last night’ for some reason. I can’t remember a thing and I’m really not feeling we-”

“FUCK! AKANISHI SHUT UP! The killer contacted me and, God, this is a freaking mess... Listen carefully. I’m sending you a Web address, a user name and a password, you’re going to see a video live streamed. The killer has kidnapped someone,” Kazuya alternately bellowed, alternately stuttered out through the phone.

Jin was quiet for a while, slowly realizing what the other boy had just said. The next thing Kazuya heard were distant running steps, signaling that Akanishi was running.

“Stay where you are, don’t leave your room! Pack some clothes and the most necessary other things, I’m picking you up right now. I’ll call you once I’m behind your door, don’t open if someone knocks!” Jin said, fear shining through the firm commands. “Also, shut down your laptop right now, the murderer might try to hack into your files in order to gain access to the case report. He has probably already tracked down your IP address. Don’t leave and don’t open the door until I call you.”

It was like Akanishi’s slightly shaky but still strong voice took the edge of his panic and as he walked back to his computers and shut them down he could finally breathe again. He really had picked the right person to call.

“Don’t go yet Akanishi!” He piped when he heard a door shut through the phone, “You need to tell them about the Web page.”

“We’ll start to investigate it once I’ve secured your safety. You’re moving to my place for some time,” Jin said with a voice that left no room for objections.

It should sound weird and make him cringe at the thought of living together with the man that had forced himself on him just hours ago, but right now it seemed trivial. He could bear no grudge. He was really scared now that the reality of it all had caught up with him. He was under the watch of a mentally unstable killer.

“Okay,” he whispered back, curled up on his bed with his knees against his chest.

“Stay calm and keep yourself occupied with packing, I’ll be there before you even notice it,” Jin said almost gently and Kazuya distantly heard him starting his car.

Kazuya was glad he had turned his computers off. He wouldn’t have been able to do as Jin said if he had heard the torture as he kept doing something as mundane as packing. The poor man, that poor doomed man. If Kazuya couldn’t get to the person who uploaded it, then neither would the police. It was game over.

After a quick trip to his cramped bathroom to get his toothbrush he realized that he was still standing there naked after taking a shower earlier that night. A wave of nausea came over him as he saw the naked man being boiled in the hot water. The water that just kept coming. He was shaking as he buttoned a pair of jeans and pulled a sweatshirt over his tousled hair, not able to work the zipper on his overly filled sports bag. A problem soon interrupted by his phone ringing.

“Y-yes?” he answered, already knowing it was Akanishi from the caller ID.

“Yeah, I’m behind your door.” Jin was clearly out of breath, the fact that he had probably run all the way from the parking lot to his door being evident.

“What are you? A scared little bunny? Why would you run here?” Kazuya asked as he opened his door and let Akanishi in.

Jin gave him a little offended gaze. “Well, excuse me for considering your safety a high priority.”

“Sorry... bad habits are the hardest ones to kill,” Kazuya answered back, voice trembling as the tension left his body, “thank you.”

With a swift move he stepped into his black boots and grabbed a jacket from the hanger. The bag had already been picked up from the floor by the officer.

“Let’s go,” Kazuya said with determination.

The outside world was far too bright and alive. Life really shouldn’t have continued after an monstrous act like the one carried out by the killer at that very moment, but it did. Akanishi must have picked up on Kazuya’s discomfort because the moment they went out through the entrance doors of the dorm, he put a strong arm around his back, holding his arm with a firm grip. It almost felt safe.

-

It was the scent that gave him the first warning sign before he walked into Ueda’s small office space. His eyes went wide with astonishment as he looked around at the ocean of colors that covered every single available surface. It wasn’t a big office though, so the small amount of flowers in there overwhelmed the room. Kazuya blinked once, twice, and then decided to ignore it completely.

“Hi..” he said with a small voice after knocking against the door frame.

His cousin was sitting with his back towards the door but as soon as Kazuya had spoken, Ueda flung around and jumped to grab him by his shoulders.

“You’re here! Jin called and told us about the situation and the emergency group is working on it right now... are you alright Kazu-chan?”

“Yes, I’m fine, Akanishi came and picked me up, so no harm done really. Have you got anything new?” Kazuya asked while trying to get out of Ueda’s iron grip. Since nothing seemed to work he decided to address the big elephant in the the room. “What’s up with the flowers?”

Ueda blushed instantly and, much to Kazuya’s approval, released his hold on the boy’s shoulders.

“It’s nothing, nothing at all... just, well, they’re from Ryo. He likes-” Ueda stopped to clear his throat, “he likes to spoil me, that’s all.”

Kazuya was saved from further discussion about Ryo’s hardly imaginable softer, romantic side as Jin dashed in, a somehow relieved smile taking over his features the second he saw the younger boy was safely with Ueda, just like agreed.

“Oh, you’re here. Did I interrupt something?”

“No, no, not a thing!” Ueda hurried to say, waving his hands and shaking his head.

“It’s alright Akanishi, I’m here, I’m not making a run for it. You’ve got all my stuff at your place anyway, I wouldn’t get far without money,” Kazuya said and sighed.

“Oh, right,” Jin said and smiled, as if the reminder of Kazuya’s sudden invasion to his home was something he was feeling excited about. Kazuya didn’t want to imagine what kind of slumber parties the officer was planning on having with him.

“Stop! Please say that again. Kazu-chan’s things are in YOUR place?” Ueda exclaimed with big eyes directed at Jin. Superior or not, this was his favorite cousin they were talking about.

“Well, he obviously can’t stay at the dorm after the murderer has found out its whereabouts,” Jin said with a confused frown, not understanding why Ueda was so shocked.

Ueda managed to look even more outraged before he started to point at his superior while pulling a protesting Kazuya to his side. “Saving him YES, but having him living with you?! NO! What... what in the world are you planning?!”

“I’m planning on keeping him safe. Why couldn’t he live with me? My flat is fairly big,” Jin was still too confused to get mad at Ueda’s accusing tone. He shifted his gaze to Kazuya, wordlessly asking what the boy’s cousin’s sudden outburst was all about.

“Out of the question!” Ueda answered back, then turning to Kazuya, ignoring Jin.

“We’ll go to Jin’s place and pick things up later, you can have our guest bedroom, you’re always welcome in our home Kazuya.”

“Wha... WHY?” Jin shrieked, now getting pissed off. “It’s more peaceful with me, he doesn’t have to listen to you guys fucking all night long and wake up with Ryo singing serenades to you with his awfully stuffy morning voice.” Jin had spent a couple of nights at their place sometime when being too lazy to go home after a night of heavy drinking, and he had regretted his choice every single time after witnessing the passionate nature of their relationship.

“What’s so difficult to understand? After last night I’m not letting you handle this situation!” Ueda shrieked, his face getting uncharacteristically red.

“What was so special about last night?” Jin asked, rolling his eyes. “First Pi, now you. What did I do that was so awful? Did I start a fight or something?” he asked cynically.

Kazuya stood looking back and forth between the two police officers, observing their clenched fists and flashing canine teeth, it was a huge fight just waiting to happen. In the name of workplace peace he decided to step in before it got out of hand.

“He doesn’t remember Tat-chan, just... just drop it will you?” he said while taking a hold of the arm Ueda was pointing at Akanishi with.

“Drop WHAT?” he yelled at Kazuya, instantly regretting it. His voice was gentler when he continued. “Why don’t you just decide who you want to stay with. You’re an adult after all.”

“I think I’ll stay with Akanishi, it just feels like a smarter idea right now,” Kazuya answered right away while avoiding to look straight at Ueda’s now completely astonished face. He hoped his cousin wouldn’t rat on him to his parents, ignoring the blame he himself would have to take for letting Kazuya get involved in such dangerous affairs.

“Okay I give up, go live with him, but remember that I warned you about it!” Ueda hissed before he angrily rearranged some roses in a tall vase.

“I will. Now let's join the others and get some work done!” Kazuya said happily, trying to get rid of the tense atmosphere between the officers. Jin was more or less gleaming with happiness by now though, Kazuya daren’t think about why.

-

Kazuya had looked at the photographs from the second murder scene about a hundred times by now. He knew them by heart but there was something that made him look at them again and again. Something that always managed to avoid being caught by his eyes. The police were trying to find out where the man was tortured and held captive but Kazuya knew they wouldn’t succeed. If he failed then it wasn’t meant for anyone else to do in his stead. It was with a thick throat he swallowed before he once again turned his attention to the photographs.

Someone had called a man named Taguchi up from the depths of Horikita’s lair and he was sitting at a peacefully humming computer to Kazuya’s right.

“I wouldn’t even try doing that,” he let out while he unconsciously noted what the tall man was typing in.

“The simplest of solutions can often be the right one,” Taguchi answered back with a wide smile.

Kazuya grumbled back before he once more focused on the brick wall that the big nosed Nakamaru had so carefully caught every inch of.

“Horikita told me about you,” Taguchi said while continuing to type with his long fingers. Kazuya felt a quick sting of envy while watching him.

“She said that you’re focused, but slightly off target. Something about a muddled aura or whatever it is she’s into these days.”

“People keep telling me I’m not good enough today,” Kazuya sighed while thinking back at the murderers comments on him being slow as a turtle. At least Horikita hadn’t told him off today, the last thing he had heard from her was the comment about the murderer which Akanishi had forwarded to him. Despise. He tasted the word and let it hang in his mind. The murderer despised his victims, he felt contempt for them. It was a huge piece in the puzzle of the murderer’s identity. The closest thing they had to a motive.

Kazuya just gave Taguchi a small wave to tell him he could continue working on the computer, before he started staring at the closed file in his lap, letting his thoughts run wild.

-

Jin had a hard time keeping his eyes open. The clock was already nearing midnight and he could see Kazuya was also getting tired. Everyone else had left already. They had gotten nowhere that day even though Matsumoto had ordered every free person to participate in the search.

Despite Jin’s offers of buying Kazuya some food several times during the day, he had refused eating and Jin hadn’t seen him do anything besides work for the past 12 hours. He observed the boy’s exhausted essence with worried eyes.

“Hey,” he called gently.

“Hmm?” Kazuya mumbled back with a confused look, just like he had been completely engrossed in something very complicated.

“Let’s call it a day. We’ll get nowhere tonight, being this tired. Let’s head home and have a good sleep and continue tomorrow with your brain as sharp as ever,” he said, smiling almost father-like.

Kazuya suddenly seemed to snap out of his dazed state and shot Jin a stern look. “Not while he’s still there being tortured. It’s my fault for not getting him out of there, I can’t just leave and let him die like this!”

“You’re tired. Don’t try to deny it. Can you honestly say it’s more useful with you working tired through the night than sleeping tonight and continuing rested in the morning? And stop blaming yourself, you’re smarter than any of us and you’re doing great. Just allow yourself to rest in order to use your brain in full power tomorrow, will you?” Jin talked gently and smiled compassionately; he knew the boy was feeling pressured. Anyone would with a human life at their fingertips.

“I-” Kazuya started but couldn’t collect enough energy to explain how he felt about it, instead he just nodded and gave in to the officers suggestion, “okay, I really am tired, let’s give it a fresh start tomorrow morning.”

“That’s the spirit,” Jin answered and walked out with Kazuya behind him. He nodded at the officers who had been assigned to the night shift that week when exiting the building and walked to his civilian police car. He opened the door to the passenger’s seat and kept it open for Kazuya.

When they had both seated themselves Jin suddenly grabbed his bag.

“Right, I almost forgot...” he said hurriedly before pulling out a sandwich he had bought for Kazuya earlier that day. He threw it to the boy’s lap. “Eat up,” he said in a tone not leaving room for protests.

Kazuya just gave him a unreadable look before starting to unwrap it. Soon he was nibbling away at the edges looking more or less content.

-

“Make yourself at home,” Jin said as he kicked his shoes off and changed into slippers. He hurried straight to the bedroom and got himself busy with something Kazuya couldn’t see from the hallway.

It was a small one bedroom flat that looked like it had been newly renovated, but the layer of abandoned newspapers, magazines, empty fast food containers and DVD cases that were spread out through the living room made it look like it had been lived in for very long. It wasn’t particularly messy, it just looked like Akanishi had done some serious “living”.

“There’s extra slippers in the closet. Do you want me to change the sheets for you?” Jin yelled from the bedroom.

“Sheets?” Kazuya asked back feeling confused while he fished out the said slippers and stepped into them.

“Yeah, the things you cover your bed with before sleeping in it,” Jin said sarcastically to Kazuya, who had appeared in the doorway of the bedroom.

“I tried to clean the room up a little, hope it’ll do,” Jin said while pushing the final messy clothes into the laundry basket beside the door and catching a blanket from his armchair, taking it to the couch located in the living room.

“No, I mean, I’ll take the couch, there’s no need for you to give me your bed...” Kazuya hurried to explain. He wasn’t feeling overly confident in sleeping somewhere that smelled just like the officer after that hellish taxi ride home from the bar. It would just bring back memories.

“Nonsense. Listen, kiddo, I have very few things about myself I’m proud of and being a gentleman is one of them. Do you want to take it away from me?” Jin grinned and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

“Hah! You weren’t much of a gentleman yesterday when you-” Kazuya bit his lip before he spilled the beans and mentally slapped himself for opening a can of worms like that. He blamed it on exhaustion.

Jin stopped somewhere between opening the bathroom cabinet and taking out his toothbrush. “When I what?” he asked, frowning.

“When you... when you cut in front of those girls in the queue for the bar?” Kazuya tried while giving him an anything but convincing smile.

“I doubt that is enough for Ueda to deny you living here and Pi following me all day long going on about how I fucked up last night,” Jin said with raised eyebrows. “What did I do, just tell me the truth. It’s probably nothing I haven’t done before anyway.” Jin laughed lightly.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you,” the boy muttered before he tried to sneak back to the bedroom and lock the door behind him.

“Halt!” Jin exclaimed and grabbed Kazuya’s arm. He was getting seriously interested in the previous night. “Spit it out. What did I do?”

Kazuya hesitated a while before he swallowed a few times and collected enough courage to face the officer. This was going to be more than embarrassing for him. It had been manageable as long as Akanishi didn’t remember it, now he would have to face it all again.

“You got angry at me all of a sudden, so you left me with Koki and Nakamaru. Then you came back later that night, when you were dead drunk and... please? Do I have to tell you?” he pleaded to Akanishi, his cheeks flushed.

Jin had gone pale when he slowly gave a thought to the worst possible scenario. No, it couldn’t be. He wouldn’t be so reckless even when drunk! “A-and?” Jin insisted, stuttering lightly.

“YOU KISSED ME, ALRIGHT!” Kazuya hollered before he made a run for it again, “and I’m not telling you about the taxi ride!” he added but cursed at himself for letting another piece of the secret, that Akanishi could know nothing about, slip past his lips.

Jin had his grip on Kazuya for a couple of seconds, enough for the boy to see the enormous blush spreading on his face and ears. Then, without a warning he suddenly let go of the boy before swinging the bathroom door shut and locking it.

Kazuya had already managed to jump behind the bed in the bedroom before he noticed that he wasn’t being chased at all. He had no idea why he had thought he’d get chased though, so he guessed that it was just his social skills lacking as usual. But where had Akanishi disappeared to? The living room was empty, so was the kitchen and the only place left was the bathroom. He was more than surprised when he realized that the officer had locked the door behind him.

“Akanishi? Aren’t you going to scream at me or something? Why are you hiding in there?” Kazuya asked through the door, placing his ear against the surface to hear what was going on in there.

“Go away, I’m not coming out,” Jin muttered almost inaudibly, embarrassment evident in his voice.

“You know, if I have to think of a reason for you to... kiss me... then it would probably be because I was behaving really arrogant and selfishly. That’s almost always the reason for everything that happens to me. Come out will you? Don’t you want the whole story so you know if Yamashita tries to tell you lies?” Kazuya asked in an attempt to restore their still so frail co-worker relationship.

“Nevermind, go to sleep. I don’t want to hear how I harassed you during the taxi ride,” Jin grunted, obviously thinking Kazuya was just making fun of him.

“Stop that self-pity right this instant! Do you think it was easy for me calling you this morning? Trying to ignore the uneasiness of being close to you after you had clung all over me just a few hours earlier? If you want this to work out then you’ll have to swallow that pride of yours and talk to me! Or else I’ll... call Ueda and tell him you’re molesting me!” Kazuya threatened.

“If you want to be a liar, go ahead. I’m already used to you always bashing me for being like this anyway,” Jin said with a sulking voice. “I’d rather pity myself than think I’m better than anybody else,” he added so quietly Kazuya barely heard it.

“I’m sorry,” Kazuya answered while bowing deeply, he knew the officer wouldn’t see it, but it was the proper way of doing it.

“You kept repeating it all night, about how I was acting coldly and how I looked down on you... I’m just trying to keep it professional, you know. I’m really sorry,” he added.

Jin didn’t answer but after a few agonizingly long minutes the door was finally unlocked. Kazuya peeked inside carefully just to see the officer sitting on the floor with his legs pressed against his chest and his jaw leaning on them. Jin didn’t look at the boy but stared into the wall with a somehow pouting expression, though Kazuya could see the officer wasn’t necessarily angry.

Not knowing what to do he just sat down beside the other and gave him a gentle push with his elbow.

“I respect you. I really do,” Kazuya whispered.

Jin smiled faintly at the wall. “I’m sorry. I’m tired and grumpy and let my emotions get the best of me,” he said, finally letting his exhaustion show fully. “I don’t want to take it out on you,” he sighed, shifting his eyes to Kazuya and smiling apologetically.

“It’s fine... I’m actually a bit surprised at your reaction, some part of my very twisted brain thought you’d beat me up for it,” Kazuya said with a big smile.

“I don’t beat up people I want to protect,” Jin said, looking a little bit offended by the thought that Kazuya had even considered such an option.

“Right, silly me.”

“Let’s just go to sleep, kiddo,” Jin finally said after a good moment of silence and got up.

“I better lock the bedroom door,” Kazuya joked as they were leaving the bathroom, ”I think you’re terribly lonely, by the way you snuggled up against me in the taxi I mean.”

“Shut up,” Jin mumbled and blushed.

-

The sun was shining in through the blinds covering the windows, leaving a striped pattern of light over Kazuya’s legs. He looked at it, puzzled, as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and tried to regain his bearings. On the bedside table he could see his phone’s screen all lit up. So it was the ringtone that had woken him up, he thought to himself. As a reflex he reached out and grabbed it, noting that it was an incoming video call before he slid the answering box aside with his finger on the touch screen.

Before he realized his mistake the call was connected and he found himself staring at that very concrete room he’d seen the day before on his computer screens. The gagged man was still there, more dead than alive, using his last resources of energy to lean against the wall. A white paper lay at his feet, Kazuya could barely make out the words “game over”. His sleepy brain didn’t seem to catch up with what his eyes were seeing or his ears hearing. It was too surreal.

After being tortured for a whole day or more, the victim still had enough of force in him to squeal loudly, eyes wide in anguish. Then a loud shot was heard, louder than Kazuya had ever imagined a gunshot to be, and he could only watch with horror as the poor man’s brain was splattered all over the concrete wall behind him. Game over.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	6. Hot and Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate) (a.k.a. Rika). I'm attempting to re-upload this story as rapidly as possible, but since it is quite long and I'm going to have to format a lot of text it's going to take a while. Please be patient with me 💜🙏 Here comes the sixth chapter!
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _March 30th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 6 - Hot and Cold**

Jin grunted in deep annoyance as the high-pitched ringtone persistently flowing to his ears from the bedroom forced him to wake up and forget whatever amusing dream he was having. He glanced briefly at the clock in his DVD-player and sighed. It was barely even 6:30 in the morning. He rolled onto his back on the couch and closed his eyes, waiting for Kazuya to answer his goddamn phone so he could have the much needed 30 minutes of sleep before his alarm would go off.

When he distantly heard Kazuya getting out of the bed and answering, he had hardly time to seek a comfortable position and sigh in satisfaction when a loud bang sent him flying to his feet. Holding his breath he quickly regained his balance and dashed to the bedroom.

“Kamenashi, what was that?” he asked the boy who was standing beside the bed with his back towards the officer. Jin walked to Kazuya and was just about to demand an explanation for the rather unpleasant way of waking him when he saw the screen of the phone Kazuya was holding.

Despite the bad quality of the video call Jin needed no effort to recognize the mess on the wall as someone’s brain and the unmoving shapeless object as a human body. Jin peeked carefully at Kazuya’s face over his shoulder, preparing himself for seeing an expression reflecting fear and disgust, even panic. But much to his surprise, the boy’s face was emotionless.

Hesitantly Jin circled his arms around Kazuya’s shoulders from behind to comfort him.

“Are you alright?” he asked gently, hiding his own fear the situation had woken in him.

A jolt went through the boy’s body, then he spun around with a determined face, freeing himself from Jin’s grip.

“Of course I’m fine,” he stated coldly and put his phone down on the bedside table, making sure not to disconnect the call, “grab some clothes and then we’ll go down to the station. We’ve got a call to track,” he ordered and headed for the bathroom.

Jin frowned in a worrying manner and grabbed the boy’s arm before he could flee. “You don’t need to go, I can call Ueda and tell him to come and get the phone. Maybe we should have a day off, you don’t have to act brave.” Jin smiled compassionately and opened his arms a little, as if he was expecting for Kazuya to jump into them and cry against his chest.

“Brave? Akanishi are you listening to yourself? If the sight of a dead man renders you completely useless then I don’t understand how you’ve solved a single case up until now. Put some clothes on so we can go,” Kazuya said coldly while staring at the slightly taller man from under his bangs.

“It’s you I’m worried about,” Jin tried but after seeing that the younger man was determined to go, retreated and hastily grabbed the first pants and shirt he could reach from his bedroom and put them on.

“Okay, I’m ready. Are you sure you’re alright?” Jin asked one more time, ignoring the annoyed expression on the other’s face.

Kazuya sighed and his square shoulders sank back into slopes as he picked up his black-rimmed glasses and put them on. There was something of a guarded expression on his face now, white skin clad with the black plastic and transparent lenses.

“I’m fine, really. Can we hurry?” the boy said and grabbed his phone, call still connected, from the table.

“Just let me know if you need something or you want to come back early,” Jin said and held the door open for Kazuya. After closing and locking the door he hurried to walk beside the boy and like when the murderer had contacted Kazuya the first time, put his arm around his back to hold Kazuya’s arm protectively.

It only lasted a couple of seconds before the boy took a step further away from him, making Jin’s arm fall back to his side.

-

After getting the call tracked at the station, they had localized the source of it and a patrol car had already confirmed the search result as the crime scene. It had taken a few minutes for Kazuya to convince Akanishi to take him with him when he went there, but he had finally given in. Pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, Kazuya walked away from the car towards a warehouse in a grey and dusty area of town. The perfect place to hide a kidnapped person, he noted and stuck his hands inside his jeans pockets.

Without looking, he could tell that Akanishi was close behind him, quiet and sulking. At least the on-call police officers were quick and professional, they had taped the area off and had put a few men on guard. Kazuya gave them an approving smile while holding up his access card. He didn’t even care to register their knowing looks and silent whispers as he was let in and jogged down a staircase to what seemed to be a cellar beneath the large and bulky building above.

He could already smell it, sweet and nauseating, as he moved down a corridor, passing steel doors at his right. Another crime scene. Akanishi was close behind him now, he could almost feel his breath against his hair. When Kazuya’s eyes landed on a big hose and a stack of buckets as he rounded a corner he drew in a sharp intake of breath. This was expected from a killer like this, he reminded himself, forcefully convincing himself that he was fine with it, that nothing as natural as a dead body could get him out of balance.

Kazuya was shaking as he entered the room with the dead body, even though he would never admit to it.

“Welcome,” Taguchi said from the far side of the rectangular concrete-walled room. He was geared up in a white smock and was photographing the body at close range.

“Isn’t Horikita here yet?” Jin asked, scanning through the crime scene. He gave a sideway glance to Kazuya, trying to read his expressionless face. He was seriously getting worried by the boy’s cold reaction, especially when he had been so passionate about saving the now dead man just the previous evening.

“She’ll be here,” was Taguchi’s only answer before he folded his long legs and continued with his task.

Without a word, Kazuya put on some gloves and started walking alongside the walls, looking at it closely from ceiling to floor.

“There is a drain over here, so all the water has passed down into the sewers,” he said quietly, almost like he was talking to himself, “do you think the killer left anything useful behind this time?” he added thoughtfully, asking no one in particular.

“Sorry I’m late. I always have my phone on mute when I’m meditating.” Horikita stepped into the room and put on a pair of gloves before kneeling beside the body.

“Several fresh untreated third- and second-degree burns, his rib cage is broken so he was apparently shoved forcefully to the ground with his hands tied. His wrists were tied into an inhuman position, causing them to twist. And then there’s of course the gunshot. The bullet hit his forehead and came out from the back, slightly curved to the right. Estimated time of death was about three hours ago,” Horikita listed, her notes so fast the police officer writing them down had a hard time keeping up.

Kazuya hummed and said something to himself as he bent forward at the feet of the victim. The floor was still wet and the white paper he had seen lying there over his phone was sticking closely to the floor. Now that it was semi-transparent he could see that something was written at its back.

“Another code,” he stated as he held the wet paper up at eye-level.

“Does that mean he will continue putting videos of his victims to the internet?” Jin asked wide-eyed, holding open a plastic bag so Kazuya could put the paper in there.

“Probably, he’s gotten the taste for interacting with us now,” Kazuya answered absentmindedly, not noticing how close to the officer he was standing until he successfully managed to secure the paper inside the plastic bag and looked up from his task. Akanishi’s eyes were almost black, with hints of chocolate brown, in the weak light.

“I forbid you from solving the code,” Jin announced firmly and gave the bag to one of the officers. “The technical department will take care of that.”

Kazuya answered with something sounding like a “hmm” and took a step back, as if Akanishi’s words electrocuted him.

“It might not be videos anyway,“ he hurriedly explained to cover up his awkward reactions, “it might be riddles and clues too. I can’t imagine him putting down this much effort on all the killings.”

“Doesn’t matter, I won’t allow it. We’re going to eat breakfast now. Pi is doing a background check on the victim and will drop by later.” Jin had quickly adapted to his role of a worried mother hen as he shooed Kazuya off the crime scene.

As they were walking off the premise, Kazuya could only think about the fact that he had only looked at the body once.

-

By the time they got back, Pi had already arrived. He was discussing something with Taguchi in a rather serious manner. When he saw Jin and Kazuya, he excused himself and approached them.

“Yo,” he said casually to them both and then shifted his gaze to Kazuya. “You alright?” he asked, sounding surprisingly serious and genuine.

“Uh-huh, I’m fine,” Kazuya answered looking at Yamashita questioningly.

“Ueda told me to make sure you’re alright. He was beyond furious when Matsumoto denied him access to the crime scene. Well, apparently the boss thought one overprotective guy fussing over you is enough,” Pi said and raised his eyebrows, flashing a tiny smirk to Jin who was looking at him with his best “shut the fuck up”-expression on. “Two would make the investigating impossible.”

“I... right,” Kazuya stuttered back and threw a quick glance at Akanishi before he suddenly found his boots incredibly interesting.

“What a beautiful romance you two share,” Pi said teasingly and threw a mocking look to Jin, who was blushing and opening his mouth in silent embarrassed rage.

“Shut up,” he finally managed to hiss. “I’m his instructor!”

“But you’re both blushing,” the officer continued, enjoying every second of the awkward moment.

Finally managing to snap out of his awkward state, Kazuya shot Yamashita a deadly glare and said the first thing he could think of.

“The ones having a lovers quarrel right now are certainly not me and Akanishi, but you and him, so maybe you should keep your mouth shut about ridiculous things like that!”

“Oh no, he found out about our love affair, Jin. What should we do?” Pi asked mockingly and threw himself to the officer’s arms.

“What the hell are you doing? Let go of me you fucking moron, you’re heavy and smell like sweat!” Jin shrieked.

“No need to hide it anymore, my love. Kiss me, stupid!”

“LET GO!” Jin’s voice was panicked and slightly feverish as he tried to wriggle loose from his best friend’s grip. “Keep your ugly face away from me!”

“What is it with the two of you? This is a crime scene!” Kazuya stated desperately while trying to get either of the officer’s attention.

“Tell it to this moron!” Jin cried to Kazuya, his both hands occupied with holding Pi’s head back, for he had no intention of getting those pursed lips on his.

“Guys, please, respect!” Kazuya once again tried, but his pleas got ignored as Pi managed to push Jin back towards a wall.

“Finally we can express our true feelings,” Pi said in satisfaction and grabbed both of Jin’s hands before, to Jin’s shock, actually kissing the officer with a loud “smooch” sound. Jin let out a high-pitched scream. When his best friend finally let go of him and backed off to see Kazuya’s reaction, Jin stayed still for a moment before blurting out the first thing coming to mind.

“Your mouth tastes AWFUL!”

“I got one point’s lead,” Pi said to Kazuya and grinned.

It took Kazuya a moment to collect both his anger and surprise before he could look at the two idiots in front of him. With the umpteenth sigh of the day, he corrected his glasses and gave Yamashita a long look.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. The only thing I know is that this behaviour could have you both suspended.”

“Us both? I didn’t do anything!” Jin shrieked, offended, and wiped his mouth. Jin had always known Pi had a rather weird sense of humor and it most certainly wasn’t the most extreme thing his best friend had ever done, but it was still kind of random and unexpected. Well, to be honest Jin knew that in a couple of hours it would be both of their favourite topic to joke about. They never took each other seriously.

Kazuya looked back and forth between the giggling Yamashita, outraged Akanishi and uninterested Taguchi before he decided to once again let something slide. A thing like this would usually have him boiling with anger, he thought and wondered why he felt so tired.

“Are you going to kick my ass in jealous rage or do I dare to come closer and tell you the victim’s background?” Pi asked and grinned. Jin looked, once again, ready to bite Pi’s head off.

“Finally, I was wondering when you’d start doing your job,” Kazuya answered. Yamashita seemed to do whatever it took to get him wired up today.

Pi walked up to Jin and gave him the folder containing the information about the victim. ”Here you go, honey,” he said and winked at Jin. The officer had been quick to recover from the shock and he took the file with a grin. “Thank you, sweetie.”

“There’s nothing particular about him. A normal 43-year-old businessman. Owns a small advertising company. Wife reported him missing two days ago. They have a daughter, 14 years old. No criminal background or anything else that stands out,” Pi said, finally going back to the much longed serious mode.

“As suspected,” Kazuya said while reading the file over Jin’s shoulder, “though this one has a close family, unlike the two previous victims.”

“Ahem,” Horikita said silently, suddenly standing beside the three.

“We’re planning on moving the body to the morgue now, is that alright? Are you alright without examining it here, Mr. Cold-Aura?” Horikita addressed her last words to Kazuya.

Her question made Kazuya lose focus on what he was reading and once more addressing the subject of him not even looking at the body. He wasn’t sure what to answer, just because he couldn’t understand his uneasiness himself. So he just waved his hand at her.

“It’s alright, nothing new to this scene. If there’s something I wonder about I can take a look in the morgue.”

“Very well. I’ll go perform the autopsy, then. See you later, Mr. Cold-Aura, Mr. Macho, Akanishi.” She bowed and went to Taguchi, who was going through the photos on his camera.

“Are you done photographing the crime scene, Mr. Bad-Puns? I need someone to take photos of the autopsy and I would rather not do it with Mr. Big-Nose again, he is bad at staying conscious.”

“Um, sure, I’ll just pack these things and... wait for me upstairs will you?” Taguchi said in a rush and motioned for Horikita to start walking up to the cars. His sudden red cheeks, uncharacteristic mumbling and sudden energy burst made Kazuya look a few seconds extra at him before he returned his eyes to the file. His brain was playing tricks with him because no one could be infatuated with Horikita, let alone a living sunbeam like Taguchi.

-

The day moved quickly when they found themselves on a constant move from place to place. Akanishi drove them to the station, only to get assigned to track down eventual eyewitnesses to the kidnapping and then back to the station. At five o'clock Kazuya could literally hear Akanishi thinking about food.

His conclusions weren’t too far-fetched as the officer cleared his throat and spoke up.

“Should we head home and call it a day? It’s been harsh for you and we need to get a good night of sleep.”

“I could work all night long if it was needed, you know,” was Kazuya’s cryptic answer to the officer’s suggestion.

“I’m assured of that but I’m still taking you home now. Unless you want to stay and go to Pi’s for the night? He lives at a walking distance,” Jin said with a teasing tone. Ueda and Ryo had left already and both of them knew that they were by now probably too occupied with each other to notice someone calling them, so spending the night there was out of the question.

“Why would I want to sleep at Yamashita’s place? It probably stinks of ramen and... him. No thanks.”

“Let’s go, then,” Jin said and opened the door, holding it for Kazuya. Like usual, he nodded to the officers on shift on the way out and once they got to the car, opened the door for the younger man. Strangely enough, being a gentleman in that aspect seemed to be something natural for him.

The car was silent on the way back. Kazuya was thinking about the case, trying to find something that would connect the three victims just to find himself back in the start over and over again. Jin, on the other hand, was thinking about something completely different.

“Kamenashi,” Jin finally said and bit his lips in uncertain nervousness.

“Yeah?”

Jin didn’t say anything for a minute before finally hastily babbling out what he wanted to say so fast Kazuya almost didn’t catch his words. “We’re not really lovers, don’t take him too seriously. I don’t know why he wanted to suddenly kiss me but whatever it was, it was a joke. I don’t want you to misunderstand the situation, we don’t usually do stuff like that!”

“I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you, I’d be more worried about Ando or even Matsumoto walking in on the crime scene while you were busy making asses out of yourselves.” Kazuya was gazing out the window at the people hurrying home from their jobs. Unaware of Jin’s distress.

“But I don’t want you to think we’re a couple!” Jin burst out before thinking, and bit his tongue.

Kazuya turned his head and watched Akanishi closely, there was no logical reason for him being this upset, was it something Kazuya had done? With his brows furrowed he tried to think of the right thing to say, but an important piece in this situation’s puzzle managed to slip past his grasp.

“Alright, I won’t make any conclusions of that sort about people who kiss you, unless you tell me personally.”

Jin stayed silent for a moment before answering timidly. “So, the kiss didn’t bother you besides the fact he jumped on me at the crime scene? Like, if you saw us kissing in private, you wouldn’t care?”

“Akanishi, I think I’m not really understanding what you’re getting at here, should I care? Is this some sort of test? Is it inappropriate for police officers to kiss in private or what is this?”

“Well, you wouldn’t have to care if you don’t want to,” Jin said, sounding strangely enough somehow disappointed.

“No, I don’t care, though I would really want to add that kissing Yamashita again seems like a really bad idea. Get that idea out of your head.”

“Why?” Jin shot back immediately, sounding hopeful.

Kazuya had to bite back a smile when he saw Akanishi’s enthusiasm shining through his previous sulking attitude. Sometimes he was more like a kid than a criminal detective.

“He’s your co-worker silly, plus I think that you’re at least officially considered being his superior. Things like that aren’t really looked well upon in the workplace.”

Jin’s expression turned into disappointment when hearing Kazuya’s answer. “Oh, okay.”

“If you’re not telling me what answer you’re after you might as well forget about getting it. I’m an arrogant and socially handicapped ass hole, remember?” Kazuya muttered and resumed his previous so intense viewing of the streets outside the car.

“Nothing at all.” Jin said and began to sulk, keeping his gaze intensively on the road ahead.

“Is this about that night at the bar?” Kazuya asked after contemplating it for a minute or so. He wasn’t sure if bringing up that subject would be a good idea, but he somehow felt that he needed to get to the bottom of Akanishi’s sudden inquisitiveness.

The hopeful face returned in seconds, accompanied by slight embarrassment as well. “What about it?”

“Well, you did seem like you were pretty lonely by the way you clung to me. Is it about that? Was I keeping you from finding company?”

“No! I... I thought that maybe you wouldn’t want me to kiss Pi because... Well... I was hoping that maybe you... FORGET IT!” Jin finally shrieked and blushed deeper than Kazuya had ever seen before.

The boy stared at the officer as he tried to regain his composure, Akanishi sure was a mystery for him.

“So you remember what happened now?” he asked instead of addressing the sudden outburst.

“No! Who would want to kiss you if they know what they’re doing,” Jin said while once again staring at the road ahead, looking awfully offended.

“Oh, right... well I’m not really prince charming,” Kazuya answered a bit teasingly while relaxing in the car seat. His neck was stiff after all the tense thinking he had done this week so he unconsciously tried to massage his muscles with his hands. Leaning forward, revealing his always silky white skin. Once it had been tanned and rough, after hours playing baseball, the way he himself preferred it.

“You want me to massage your neck once we get home?” Jin asked casually, forgetting to keep up the role of an offended victim of mockery and insults.

“That’d be seriously weird... I’ll just take a shower or something,” Kazuya replied.

Jin picked the role back up in seconds and began to sulk again.

“What? You want me to massage your neck in return?”

“No! You’re such a weakling, it wouldn’t help anything,” Jin grunted and added a frown to his sulking expression.

“I’m not weak! I still go running and every weekend I go to the batting range,” Kazuya said while being more or less outraged by Akanishi’s statement.

“Weakling weakling weakling,” Jin sing-songed and stuck his tongue out. “And you’re even worse at kissing than Pi! ..Not that I remember anything about kissing you! But I’m glad I don’t!” Jin said and laughed mockingly.

“Well I haven’t been practising, so the fact that I’m a bad kisser isn’t really relevant. Especially when it was you that was trying to stick your tongue down my throat,” Kazuya shot back irritatedly.

“You should be grateful that your first kiss was given by a handsome man like me,” Jin said, faking a deeply insulted voice.

“I should, shouldn’t I,” Kazuya almost whispered as he leaned closer to the officer, enjoying the game, “you’re exactly what I would want to brag about to my non existing friends.”

Jin accidentally turned the wheel, causing the car to twitch dangerously. “Wha-?” he asked with a flustered voice, his eyes wide and cheeks red. “What are you doing?”

“Hmm, what should I be doing? I should be crawling onto your lap kissing you, shouldn’t I?” Kazuya continued to move closer, as far as the seat belt would allow him. Teasing Akanishi was almost bringing him back to his usual self.

“I... You... We... What? You... Want to do that sort of... Things?” Jin couldn’t help stuttering. His heart was suddenly racing like crazy and he had a hard time staying on the road.

Kazuya laughed out loud and held his stomach while easing back into his seat. “No Akanishi, but you’re extremely cute when you’re flustered,” he said before he could stop himself. Calling his superior cute wasn’t really the appropriate thing to do.

“Right, of course you were joking... We’re in a car after all- I mean, I’m glad about that. Having some brat drooling over me would be a nuisance,” Jin babbled, taking in calming breaths.

“I think I know why Yamashita wanted to kiss you, I would laugh for hours if only the suggestion of me kissing you makes you that entertaining.” It was only after he heard the words coming out of his mouth that Kazuya instantly blushed at how it sounded.

“Shut up what do you want for dinner,” Jin said hastily, changing the subject without taking a breath in between.

“Whatever you’re having... without tomatoes,” Kazuya answered quietly, once again feeling tired and dull. His shoulders sloped while he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes.

“You know what, I think I’ll just order some Chinese. That's okay with you?” Jin wasn’t really in a mood for cooking anything, especially considering the fact that making food was certainly not his area of expertise.

“Sure.”

-

Dinner was quiet, it was like Kazuya’s tiredness spread through the room and even managed to keep Akanishi silent. It wasn’t even ten o’clock when Kazuya retreated to the bedroom after taking a long shower and he sighed into the sheets as he threw himself on the bed. Even though his body felt numb his mind just sped up and before he knew it he was reaching for his phone, starting to look through the third victim’s file once more.

Nothing caught his attention, just as with the two victims before. They didn’t come from the same neighbourhoods, didn’t work in the same areas of town and had probably never met. They had almost nothing in common except being employed adults. The code left on the third crime scene had Kazuya even more confused than the code from the second one. All in all it was turning out to be the challenge of a lifetime, and he had no idea how to take this a step further.

After awhile he threw a look at the alarmclock at his side and realized he’d been lying there for almost two hours. The traffic had slowed down considerably outside the house and a meek orange light made its way through the blinds. Kazuya rolled over onto his stomach and tried not to think anymore.

For a moment, between being asleep and awake, he thought he heard his phone ringing and reached out for it only to realize that it wasn’t morning and that it was still night outside. Kazuya stared at the black screen of his phone and could barely make out the contours of his face in it. It was almost a full twenty-four hours since he had answered his phone in this bed, but suddenly it felt like minutes ago. He was staring at a man, leaning against a wall, and someone blew a hole through his head. He was staring at a pale corpse at the end of a concrete room.

It was like the whimpers of the man had never left him, like he had never turned his computers off and he was sitting there in front of them, with a man’s life in his hands. A weak miserable life, tortured for hours and hours, gagged and tied. Kazuya felt his heart racing and his chest got heavy as he realized that he had failed. His incompetence had led to the loss of a human life and he hadn’t even been decent enough to look properly at the body while it was at the crime scene.

The sheets felt hot and clammy, he tossed and turned but couldn’t manage to calm his heart down. Every breath burnt and his throat got tighter as he felt a sweat breaking out all over his body. It was his fault. He had killed a man. Nothing could keep the panic away now and it hit him like a wall of water, he was shaking, fighting for breath and however close he shut his eyes he could still see a pale corpse leaning against a wall.

He needed to get up, he needed to breathe, so he leaned against the first thing he could reach in order to get to his feet. But his legs couldn’t take his weight and seconds later the world toppled over as he bedside table came crashing down underneath him with a big noise.

-

Jin sprang up, his heart racing in his throat. A loud crashing noise had woken him up and he was now listening with all his senses alert, trying to locate where the sound had come from. He got up on his feet and tiptoed out of the living room.

When he neared the bedroom he heard silent sobbing, the sound freezing the blood in his veins. Forgetting all about the lessons he had learned during his police school years about how to act in a potentially dangerous situation he dashed to the bedroom just to find his bedside table fallen to the ground with the things that had previously been on it everywhere on his floor. He couldn’t care less about that though as soon as his eyes were fixed on Kazuya, who was trembling on the floor, having trouble breathing.

Jin’s first instinct was to go screaming beside the boy and shake him until he told what was wrong, but fortunately his brain rejected it immediately. Instead he followed his second instinct, carefully walked beside the boy and knelt down.

“Shh, it’s alright,” he said gently and stroked Kazuya’s hair before tenderly picking the slim body up in his arms and sitting on the edge of the bed, cradling the shaking boy and burying his face to his temple.

“Kazuya, it’s alright, breathe with me. You’re alright,” he said silently and held the boy on his lap, pressing him against his warm chest.

“It’s- it’s my fault,” Kazuya managed to say between shaky breaths. His cheeks were wet with tears and he crawled closer to the warmth of the embrace.

Jin kissed his temple and pulled him closer. “It’s not, Kazuya. It’s not. Breathe, I’m here with you,” he whispered and started cradling him again, his arms firmly around the boy’s waist. His first task was to get the boy to calm down, then they would talk more deeply about what Kazuya had been through.

“You should hate me, I killed a man,” Kazuya said in despair and felt his heart break as he said it. No one should trust him again, let alone Jin. He suddenly felt sick, making the other hold him like that. So he pushed away and ended up on the floor once more, terrified that Jin would just walk out of the room at the same time as he wished he actually would.

Jin didn’t have any intention of leaving but instead he pulled Kazuya into his arms and lifted him on his lap again. He resumed holding him just like before, maybe a little firmer to prevent the boy from making sudden escapes and hurting himself.

“I don’t hate you, I could never do that. I want you to be here with me,” he said quietly and hugged Kazuya close.

“Please let me go, I can’t breathe, I need to get out of here.”

“I won’t let you go,” Jin said calmly. “Breathe with me. Can you feel my chest rising? Follow its pace,” he said and closed his eyes with his face pressed against Kazuya’s hair, focusing on keeping his own breathing calm.

It took a few shaky tries before Kazuya breathed in anything close to an even rhythm and it took what felt like an eternity before he had relaxed in his arms, leaning back against him exhausted. The only thing that could be heard was the boys still ragged breaths and occasional sob, then Kazuya turned around on his lap and crawled up in Jin’s embrace.

The whole situation would’ve been awkward if Jin wasn’t so set on helping Kazuya through this. He was only wearing a pair of sweatpants, Kazuya was in his boxers and a T-shirt. All he could do was to wait in silence for Kazuya to start telling him what he felt, this wasn’t a situation to be solved by force. He was just about to shift his weight from one side to the other when a small whisper cut through the silence.

“You must think I’m stupid.”

“No, I think you’re human,” Jin answered and hugged Kazuya more tightly.

“But it ultimately is my fault, isn’t it? I could’ve been better, or I could’ve stopped myself from getting involved in all this...”

“It’s not, Kazuya. That kind of thing happens to everyone in this kind of job. To me, to Ueda, to Pi, even to Horikita,” Jin said gently.

Kazuya went quiet, as if he was contemplating something, before he leaned his head on Jin’s shoulder with a heavy breath.

“Would you trust your life with me?” Kazuya asked so silently Jin could barely make it out. It was essentially what it meant having Kazuya amongst them.

“Without a second thought,” Jin answered immediately with no hint of hesitation and leaned his head on Kazuya’s.

“I might have to take you up on that,” Kazuya sighed and breathed in that familiar scent of tobacco and Jin.

“Be my guest.” Jin uttered a laugh before staying silent for a while and continuing. “It took me a lot to accept it. That despite my best efforts, sometimes I don’t succeed in saving everyone. When I had just started as an officer I was on patrol in the town one night. I got an order to go to someone’s apartment. The person living there had threatened to kill himself and his girlfriend living out of town had called the emergency number. When I got there, we talked and he acted stable and said that he had just wanted some attention from his girlfriend. I believed it and left without insisting on taking him to see a doctor or seek help or anything. Then, the day after I heard he had hanged himself. It would’ve taken me so little to save him.” Jin still felt a sting of guilt when thinking about it but in time he had learned to live with it and he hoped Kazuya would as well.

The younger man had leaned off his chest as he spoke, watching his face closely as if it held the answers to all the mysteries of the world. Kazuya looked more like a kid now than ever, with his eyes wide but soft in fascination and compassion.

“You couldn’t have known Jin, it’s far from your fault.”

“And you did all you could to save that man. I even had to force you to sleep, remember?” Jin answered compassionately. “There’s only one person who’s at fault to his death, the murderer. And we will catch him together, right?” Jin nudged Kazuya lightly and smiled reassuringly.

“I-yes, yes we will catch him together,” Kazuya answered after looking frail for a second, “and while we’re at it I think we should bury the hatchet. Friends?”

Suddenly Jin was looking like a kicked puppy. “You didn’t think of me as your friend up until now?”

“Should I have? I thought you detested me. That’s why you were so reluctant to getting involved in this case, right? Yamashita seems to think so anyway,” Kazuya answered questioningly.

“I’m proud, stubborn and stupid. And this is not exactly your regular part-time job. That’s why I didn’t want to let you in. And Pi... In case you’ve missed it, we’re best friends and he still picks on me all the time and does everything he can to irritate me, even to the point of kissing me in front of a person I least wanted to see such a scenario. Don’t take him too seriously, he loves to get on people’s nerves..”

Kazuya smiled at the thought of a mischievous Pi chasing Jin into a kiss. “I should apologize then, for not getting the friend-vibe.”

“No, it’s alright. But seriously, I sometimes wonder what Pi’s sexuality is all about. On the other hand he has this huge crush on Koyuki, the secretary that was in the bar with us. But then again, he sometimes gets weird ideas like watching gay porn or, well, kissing men. He even tried to kiss Ueda once when he was drunk. His poor face after that,” Jin chuckled at the memory. “Ryo is the one person I wouldn’t want to get jealous of me.”

“He’s probably just as fond of hitting on people as he is of eating then.”

“I guess so. But I seriously hope he’ll drop me out of his bi-curious experiences from now on.”

“Oh stop it, you loved it, admit it,” Kazuya giggled and leaned back into Jin, “at least you seemed very into it when you were kissing me.”

“Liar,” Jin said quickly, trying to sound reassuring. “Who would want to kiss you?”

“All the boys that asked me out for prom, remember?”

“I bet they were so handsome,” Jin said and pouted. “More handsome than me,” he added without thinking.

“Wearing a dress? No that wouldn’t be handsome at all,” Kazuya laughed and nudged Jin on his arm, “what on earth were you imagining?”

“That it was you wearing the dress,” Jin muttered and blushed.

“Seriously, you accuse Pi of being bi-curious and you imagine me in a dress? I’ll never be able to have another nightmare again if you keep this up.” By now Kazuya was all smiles and giggles.

“Shut up, pretty boy,” Jin said. “By the way... What did I do during the taxi ride that night? You mentioned I wasn’t behaving myself. Did I try to sexually assault you or something?”

“You tried to strip and you stuck your hand down my pants... only to give me some money for the cab, but anyway. Oh! You pretended to be a dog too. I think it was something about me not giving you enough attention or something...”

“I can be quite needy sometimes,” Jin said and laughed. “I once turned off Pi’s game console when he was just about to win this very tricky match just because I felt like toasting with him and he kept neglecting me. He was furious.”

“At least you didn’t try to have your way with him. What’s up with that anyway, maybe you should take Pi up on his bi-curious offer, you need to get laid or whatever it is you normal people do,” Kazuya contemplated with his brows pulled into a look of concentration.

“No way. There’s only a couple of people I’d go gay for and Pi is not one of them,” Jin stated firmly.

The boy stared tentatively back at Jin. “A couple of people? Jin that’s like a couple of people more than straight people would ever admit to.”

“Men can look hot,” Jin said in confusion, obviously not understanding what was so special about it. Well, he had lived a good part of his life in between a gay couple and an apparently bi-curious best friend so it was only natural his mental lines about what was normal for a straight guy were more or less blurred.

“I really wouldn’t know, sometimes I wonder why I’m studying psychology when I can’t seem to understand other people at all.”

“You’re straight?” Jin asked, obviously going somewhere with that.

“I... I don’t think I know. First it was baseball, then it was computers and now it’s psychology mixed up with a murder investigation... When I get serious about something there’s no room for anything else. I think Ooshima would have my diagnosis ready for you if you ask her.”

“Wait, so you’ve never had a crush on anyone? You’ve never had a person you feel nervous with and blush and stutter or a person you want to be close to?” Jin asked disbelievingly.

Kazuya leaned off Jin’s chest again and stared back at him in sudden realization. He wouldn’t usually sit on a half naked man’s lap like this, talking about his non-existent love life and such. Not while being told that blushing, stuttering and nervousness around another person meant that you had a crush on them. Because he had stuttered, blushed and been nervous plenty in front of Jin.

“No,” he answered and hoped that his blush would be interpreted as embarrassment for his lack of experience, not his sudden self-awareness.

“You poor thing!” Jin exclaimed and trapped Kazuya in an emphatic hug. “Your life must be so lonely.” He nuzzled the boy’s hair unaware of the uneasiness the other man was going through.

“Oh, look at the time, even if we’ve got an afternoon shift tomorrow I think it’s time I tried to sleep again,” Kazuya exclaimed, ducking his way out of Jin’s arms.

“Will you be alright? Should I stay here in case you’ll feel anxious again?” Jin asked with a worried frown.

Kazuya blinked a few times, remembering why Jin was in there, holding him, in the first place. An uneasiness settled in his stomach and he forgot all about wanting to get out of Jin’s lap.

“No. I mean s-stay...” he said quickly before he climbed into bed again.

Jin dove under the blanket and settled himself comfortably face to face with Kazuya, instinctively snuggling closer. He always had to hug something when sleeping, usually it was a pillow or blanket but now there weren’t any spare ones and it made his arms feel empty. He wriggled his arms a little before wrapping them around himself and curling up.

What had he been thinking? Now that Kazuya had the other’s face just a few inches away it felt like he might’ve miscalculated this a little. Too tired to move after all the emotional drama, he settled for placing his arm in front of his face before he slipped into sleep.

-

The sun was once again painting a pattern over the sheets, stripes and spots all over the body in front of him. With a yawn, Kazuya tried to stretch his stiff arms but found one of them being trapped under something heavy and hot. His sleepy mind caught up with his eyes and he realized that Jin was holding him pressed against his chest, one hand on Kazuya’s hips and a leg over his own legs. Somehow it all made sense, considering Jin really was the clingy type, but it didn’t stop Kazuya’s heart from beating extra hard.

While silently watching Jin’s impossibly messy hair, Kazuya went over yesterday’s events in his head. His eyes still felt puffy from all the crying and his throat was sore, though those things didn’t really make a difference anymore. What did make a difference was the fact that he somehow had been fooled into thinking that he might actually be on the way of falling for Jin.

Feeling more rational than he’d done the last couple of days he could only sigh at his own foolishness. Looking at the other didn’t send him down spirals of uncontrolled emotions, there was no blushing and his heart had already calmed down. It felt cosy and safe, nuzzled up against a friend like that. A friend that had told him he trusted Kazuya with his life.

As if the other knew he was the subject of Kazuya’s wonderings, Jin grunted something that sounded like “gimme” and shifted so that Kazuya ended up more or less on top of the other. He couldn’t help himself from chuckling at the mess Jin’s sheets and Jin himself was in. Faintly red lines left from folds in the bedding across the tanned skin on Jin’s chest.

Not too long after Jin’s movement the officer slowly opened an eye, frowning because of the feeling of weight on top of him. It took him a while to recognize the face not too far away as Kazuya’s, and when he did, he let out an involuntary frightened whimper as his eyes snapped open and he stumbled away from the bed.

His first attempt of speech was impossible to understand because of his still sleepy state and shock, so it ended up being something like “me andyou what didiclingtoyou i’msorry”.

“Ouch,” Kazuya pouted and rubbed his arm that Jin had mercilessly put all his weight on as he had thrown himself out of bed, “you could’ve just wished me good morning you know, no need for giving me bruises.”

Jin watched Kazuya disbelievingly and took a calming breath, determined to form up understandable phrases this time. He needed to explain why he had grabbed Kazuya somewhere during the night.

“I cling to things that are in front of me when I sleep. I can’t help it. I thought it would be alright since I hugged myself and fell asleep like that. I’m sorry,” he said while still panting slightly, his eyes still wide from the surprise.

“I would’ve kicked your ass if you did anything indecent to me again, so don’t worry.”

“Clinging is not indecent?” Jin looked awfully confused. He had been waiting for an eruption but instead the other boy was acting calm.

“It depends, doesn’t it? What? Don’t blame me for social awkwardness, you know I’m weird,” was Kazuya’s retort. It felt safer not to delve deeper into that statement because Jin looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Comforting and clinging while drunk was clearly okay, but anything beyond that was a definite no-no for Jin. Kazuya wanted to make sure he remembered where Jin drew his lines in the future.

“I... I think I’ll take a shower,” Jin finally said lamely and hastily escaped to the bathroom.

-

He needed to calm the fuck down. Jin scrubbed shampoo to his hair furiously and clicked his tongue nervously. Usually he would sing some English songs about sex and money, holding a bottle of shower gel imagining it was a microphone but since Kazuya had arrived he had used his precious, short times of privacy for getting over his embarrassment for whatever he had done to make a fool out of himself in front of the boy that time.

He had been avoiding this moment but after all this he no longer could. He had to admit there was something that differed Kazuya from his other friends. He had clung to people in his sleep before, it wasn’t such a big deal. Except for that with Kazuya it felt like the sky itself had come crashing down on him. He had never felt so uneasy and stupid before.

Sure, this kind of thing had happened with women before and then Jin had just had a crush on them. It was easy to get over; he would approach the woman and see if it would work out. Jin, unlike some other guys, wasn’t the type that spent too much time pondering when he was attracted to someone, he usually made a move right away. But with Kazuya... Despite the fact he had no trouble admitting he found some men hot and if Johnny Depp tried to hit on him, he would probably allow himself to end up taken home with him, he had never actually had feelings for men. For him, sex and love weren’t always tied together.

But now that things had developed so far with Kazuya that he had no option but to admit his feelings to himself, he had no idea what to do. It was bad enough that they were both males but considering Kazuya’s extremely antisocial and, when it came to love, uninterested character Jin in all honesty saw no way they would ever end up together. So his usual way of going to the person and saying his regular “hey babe, can I take you out” wouldn’t do any good to their already unstable friendship.

Jin frowned and stood still for a moment before turning off the shower. His only even somehow decent way of handling the situation was to swallow his feelings and be friend-zoned without objections. A look of determination formed up on his face. Yes, he would act strictly like a friend from now on.

-

“JIN! Jin! Finally, I’ve been asking Yamashita about you all morning. I’m glad I caught you because I just couldn’t get free yesterday, they all seem to be depending on me,” Matsumoto explained as he took a few long strides to catch up with Jin. Like always, the tone of self appraisal was ever present in Matsumoto’s voice.

“Can I speak to you in private?” he added and looked as excusing as he could manage to with perfectly shaped eyebrows and designer eyewear, giving Kazuya a slight bow.

“Oh, sure thing. Go fetch the autopsy report from Horikita, Kaz- erh, Kamenashi,” Jin said and avoided making eye-contact with the boy. “She has finished it by now.”

Kazuya eyed the ever-smiling police chief and the encouraging police officer a few seconds before he decided that there was no way out of this situation, so he sighed and collected all the patience he had in him.

“Right. I’ll be back later.”

Matsumoto followed Kazuya with his extra glamorous smile, making sure that he had rounded a corner before he turned back towards Jin.

“How is he doing? This is a delicate case and it’s the first time we’ve used a... consultant. We wouldn’t want this to blow up in our faces, as one says.”

Jin thought for a moment. Should he tell Matsumoto about what had happened the previous night? It would surely bring Kazuya some trouble but then again, Matsumoto had the right to know what was going on in his station.

“He... The murderer contacted him as you already know and he saw the gunshot via video call yesterday. After that... Well, he hasn’t been quite alright. He had a panic attack last night and he blames himself. Which is understandable, all of us have been through a similar situation and know that it’s tough, especially when it happens for the first time,” Jin hurried to finish in order to soften the frown now forming up on the chief’s face.

“I spoke to one of Kamenashi’s professors at University a few days ago, she assured me that even though he’s a kid he’d be able to handle it. I think I’ll have to reevaluate this whole setup. Especially now since the murderer has contacted him personally twice.” Matsumoto’s idol-like appearance was replaced with that of a steadfast general, eyes sharp and unforgiving.

“Can we take him off the case without causing a major commotion?” Matsumoto finally asked.

Jin was taken aback. He observed Matsumoto dumbfounded for a minute before finally speaking up with a meek voice. “Of course it’s you who decides but I would like to ask you to discuss this with Kamenashi before making a final decision.” Jin bowed down.

The chief seemed to deliberate Jin’s answer closely before he was all smiles again and gave Jin a friendly bump on his shoulder.

“Sure sure, I’ll catch him later when he’s back. Give me a call when you’re back in your office will you?”

“Okay. Thank you,” Jin said and bowed one more time as Matsumoto left.

-

“Is anybody down here?” Kazuya yelled as he walked through a large room and long corridors. he had been assured by a lab assistant that Horikita was down here somewhere, but so far he hadn’t had any luck.

It was just as he passed by a large freezer room that he heard a buzzing sound that didn’t seem to come from the ventilation system. On the other side of a tiled and stark room Horikita was sitting leaning against a wall, deeply immersed in whatever music that was flowing out from her earplugs.

He could just grab the report from the table in front of her and tell Jin that someone had handed it to him, but lying had never really been his thing. So even though he’d much rather don’t, he walked up to her and gently nudged her shoulder to bring her out of her concentration.

“Oh, Mr. Cold-Aura,” Horikita said and got up to bow. “Where’s Akanishi, I thought he was going to fetch the autopsy.”

“He got caught by Matsumoto and his smiles... so I got sent here instead,” Kazuya answered and tried not to show how he would much rather be anywhere but there with her. All alone in an easily cleaned and relatively soundproofed room.

Horikita watched him unblinkingly for a minute before taking the autopsy and handing it to Kazuya. “Your aura has changed,” she announced.

“It has?” he asked but regretted it immediately when he saw her delighted look. If he was anymore unlucky he’d probably end up in the middle of some weird ceremony to contact the spirits of the forest or anything in that category of occult behaviour.

“Yes. Yesterday it was cold and emotionless but today it’s surprisingly warm, almost loving. Has my fortune about the lover come true?” she said and turned her face into something that remotely resembled a smile.

Kazuya tried to avoid looking at her by delving straight into the autopsy and flipping through it to the end where the photographs of the body were attached.

“He hadn’t been drugged or something like that? Right now we would only need at least one substance to track down. The investigation has kinda stagnated.”

“No, that’s one of the things that caught my attention. The killer didn’t drug him before kidnapping. But then again, drugs usually lighten pain and considering he wanted to torture them it’s no surprise.”

“But it’s risky transporting people that could wake up at any moment, wouldn’t you say? It’s a gutsy killer, maybe even a bit too self assured,” Kazuya asked, more to himself than anyone else as he stared at the murdered man’s, Sasaki’s, contorted face.

“Actually, all the signs show that the man hasn’t been unconscious or asleep at any point. Of course one of the options is that the killer lured the man to come with him voluntarily and attacked him when they were alone.” Horikita talked with a monotone, almost bored voice and stared dully into Kazuya’s eyes.

This time he was actually getting useful information from Horikita, so Kazuya decided it was time to leave before she started ranting about ghosts. With a nod, he excused himself and headed for the stairs, autopsy securely pressed against his chest.

“Good luck, Mr. Love-Aura!” Horikita yelled after him absent-mindedly before returning to her music.

Her echoing voice chased him all the way back to Jin’s office. It puzzled him how he could be called Mr. Love-Aura when he didn’t even know what love was.

-

Kazuya had only managed to get inside the office door before Jin excused him to make a call, he hadn’t even looked him in the eyes since he woke up that morning. Something was off again and Kazuya had no idea how to fix it.

When Matsumoto appeared at the door he definitely knew something was off, he didn’t even have to look at Jin who was walking in behind him with his tail between his legs.

“What did you do now?” Kazuya asked with a raised eyebrow and his arms crossed from his place on the worn out couch.

“Nothing,” Jin mumbled and glanced at Kazuya just to shift his eyes off almost instantly. He sat on his office chair which was beside the sofa and pushed it a little further away from Kazuya.

“Then why do you look like you’ve broken your mother’s favorite bottle of perfume?” Kazuya enquired further, not convinced at all after Jin’s reply.

“Listen to what Mr. Matsumoto has to say, will you?” Jin barked and pushed the chair yet another inch away from the boy.

Matsumoto reminded them of his presence by coughing lightly and faced Kazuya with a big smile.

“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Akanishi told me that you’ve been having... emotional disturbances caused by the events in this case. Since the killer has contacted you personally it is only appropriate that we look into if you’re still fit to continue investigations at this point.”

“So, you’re pulling me off the case? Just like that? Because the killer enjoys the game?” Kazuya asked irritatedly while standing up to face the taller police chief.

“Kamenashi!” Jin immediately roared. He couldn’t just sit and watch the younger boy act disrespectful towards the foreman of the department they were working in. “Remember your position,” he continued with a grim voice, making the first eye-contact with Kazuya since the morning. His eyes were cold, firm and stern.

Kazuya decided to ignore the officer and once again turned to his superior. He would deal with Jin later.“There’s nothing wrong at all with me, my brain functions just as sharply as before. I would prove it to you if I could.”

Matsumoto looked more amused than anything else by the interaction between his two subordinates, leaning against the edge of Jin’s desk.

“You actually could prove it. If you manage to bring me a resolved case by tomorrow morning I would be more than glad to put all this behind us,” Matsumoto said while inspecting his nails. “Just as a proof that you’re not a nervous basket case,” he added with a wink.

“You’ve got yourself a deal.” Kazuya was already on his feet, shaking Matsumoto’s hand, before Jin had the time to stop him.

When Matsumoto had flashed them both a smile and exited the room with a “marvellous”, Jin was up in seconds, looking furious.

“What the fuck are you doing? You can’t just decide to stick your nose to a case without consulting me first! I agreed to let you in and got you the permission to investigate because we agreed it would be just this one case. And what was that attitude towards Mr. Matsumoto? He’s your boss and you fucking respect him!”

“And you shouldn’t go around telling people about my personal feelings! I’m an arrogant bastard but that doesn’t give you the right to outing me to that peacock!”

“When my boss asks me a question that is relevant to our job, I answer. What did you want me to do, tell him that you’re alright when you’re obviously not?”

“You just don’t get it do you?! Forget it, I’ll be off your hands from now on, I’ll go ask Ueda to help me until tomorrow and then I’m continuing on my own if Matsumoto keeps his promise.” Kazuya stared at Jin, trying to cover the slight break in his voice. Jin stood silent for a moment, looking shocked, before starting to tremble and suddenly raising his voice.

“Sure, and while you’re at it, move the fuck out of my home so I won’t have to spend my nights holding your repellent essence and calm you down from whatever pathetic panic attack you’re having! You’ve messed up my life and work and you still act like I’m the one wronging you. I can’t fucking stand you!” Jin yelled, looking so angry Kazuya wouldn’t have been surprised if he had thrown something to the wall.

Feeling a sudden wave of tiredness hit him, Kazuya sank back into the couch, taking his glasses off so he could rub his eyes. People had called him many things before, but he had never ever been accused of all the things Jin shouted at him right now.

“I-I’m sorry to be such a freak... I’ll get my things right away,” he whispered and leaned forward to hide his face. He was sure it was as pale as a sheet right now and he didn’t want the other to witness yet another of his emotional breakdowns, now that he knew how pathetic they were.

Jin stood there for a minute, watching Kazuya with a horrified expression as he realized all the awful things he had just said in his emotional storm. He ran a hand through his hair and pondered what to do. He wanted to go hug the boy and apologize like no tomorrow, but then he would break his decision of not stepping over his boundaries. It wouldn’t be a smart thing to do.

To hell with smartness, Jin thought to himself as he observed Kazuya some more. He couldn’t just stand there and do nothing when the boy was in such a state, even less when it was all his fault. It was the boy’s job to be the rational one out of them anyway. So Jin sat down beside Kazuya and pulled him to his lap much like he had done the night before.

“God, I’m so sorry. I never meant to say those things,” he said with a pained voice.

“It’s true, I am a nuisance and there’s no need to sugar coat it,” Kazuya answered, clenching his jaws shut so he wouldn’t lose control over himself again.

“You’re not a nuisance, without you we would still be wondering about the priest’s identity or pondering over the number code. I’m stupid and an asshole and so, so sorry for it,” Jin said hastily and hugged Kazuya closer.

“I think we’ve overfilled the quota for self-despise for one day already.” Kazuya let out something close to a small laugh and let himself be pulled closer and closer until his head was buried in the crook of Jin’s neck. “Do you usually hug people like this? I think I haven’t even been held like this by my mother in years...” Kazuya sighed in content.

However much Jin was screaming to himself that he was getting too caught up to his feelings again and he needed to push Kazuya off his lap and pick up his plan of backing off, he couldn’t act it out. Instead he let his arms rest on Kazuya’s waist and hip and breathed in his scent.

“No... Does it bother you?” Jin asked before reaching to kiss Kazuya’s forehead lightly.

“I don’t think it does... Don’t let Yamashita get any ideas though. I can handle Ueda and Ryo being overprotective and fatherly, but not a man smelling like ramen.”

“I won’t let you be the victim of his harassment,” Jin assured and chuckled against Kazuya’s temple.

Suddenly the door was swung open with Horikita walking in. She looked at the two expressionlessly, like she found nothing weird about finding them in a posture like that. Jin was quick to react and got up, instinctively dropping Kazuya to the floor.

“Horikita!” he said with blushing cheeks and high voice. “You should knock!”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I was having lunch with Mr. Bad-Puns and Mr. Marvellous came to see us and informed me that there has been a body discovered. He told me to take Akanishi and Mr. Love-Aura with us,” she explained, not reacting to Jin’s earlier sudden movement or the way he let out an incoherent feverish noise at the way Horikita addressed Kazuya.

“Ignore her, I preferred Mr. Cold-Aura much more,” Kazuya said while brushing the backside of his jeans off, giving Jin an irritated look.

“I can’t just ignore the great change in your aura, human child,” she simply said and exited the room. “We’ll be waiting in the hallway with Mr. Bad-Puns, you shall drive us to the crime scene, Akanishi,” she called out from the corridor.

“She should have her antenna checked or something, I feel like I always feel. No change whatsoever. I’m the last person anyone would call loving.”

Jin’s hopeful state of mind awakened by Horikita’s words was quickly stomped down by the younger man. He forced a laugh and in his mind decided to return to his plan of stepping back. Being close to Kazuya without the other returning his feelings really hurt him so he had better keep out.

-

Awkward was the right word to describe the situation as Kazuya sat in between Horikita and Yamashita in the backseat of Jin’s car. Taguchi had pointed at his long legs and stated that he’d never be able to fold them up effectively enough to fit into the cramped back. Luckily for him it was only a short drive before they arrived in the residential area the crime scene they were going to was located.

He clenched his fist as Yamashita held the door open for him with a wry smile and Jin’s sudden coldness didn’t make it any better. He didn’t have time to think about such things though, because he was there to solve a case for them so he could secure his place in the serial killer investigation.

It was a newly built house with all the modernities anyone could wish for, the owners had hardly even lived in it as it seemed. A police officer showed them up a staircase to the top floor and a bedroom where a naked beautiful woman lay on the now ruined carpet.

Horikita had already hurried to get a better look and Taguchi was busy taking out his gear, Kazuya however eyed the man standing at the opposite wall, looking grave.

“She was found an hour ago by her husband, he had been away for a couple of days. The neighbours said that the house has been completely dark for at least as long as the husband has been away.” Another officer informed them while pointing at the grave man.

“Have you checked his alibi? Because I’m sure that he hasn’t been out of town for a couple of days at all,” Kazuya snorted and gave the on-call officers a stern look.

“No, but it all seems to be in order, we’ll have someone confirm it later.”

“You needn’t bother, I think I know what happened here. She’s been hit in the head with a blunt object, right Horikita?” Kazuya walked up to the body as he spoke, observing the blood stain in the carpet.

“You’re right, Mr. Love-Aura,” Horikita said without lifting her gaze from the body. “She died approximately 15 hours ago. One of her fingers has broken. No other injuries besides it and these bruises.” She pointed out the thin marks circling one of the body’s wrists. “So her wrist was forcefully grabbed and she probably broke her finger when hitting the attacker with all her might.”

“The house was completely dark?” Kazuya asked the officers, wanting to be completely sure before he started looking for the murder weapon.

“Yes, all night as far as the neighbour has seen.”

“Right, I’ll just pop downstairs and then I’ll be right back,” Kazuya answered cryptically and went down the stairs.

“Where would you put a flashlight?” he asked Jin and Yamashita who were following him closely behind.

“Dunno,” Jin simply answered and turned to Pi, ignoring Kazuya completely. “I tasted shit in my mouth the whole day after you kissed me!” he said and laughed hard.

“It was my intention, idiot,” Pi snorted and rolled his eyes with a smile. “So how are things going between you two lovebirds?” he asked Jin jokingly.

Jin’s smile disappeared in a minute and he had to remind himself that instead of showing his feelings by blushing and stuttering he needed to stay calm. So he forced on an uninterested mask.

“We’re not lovebirds so you can stop implying that. If you’re that interested in Kamenashi’s relationship status, I can assure he’s single.”

“Will you two focus and help me find the flashlight? Don’t touch it when you do,” Kazuya hissed and stuck his head inside a kitchen cupboard. What was Jin up to anyway? Hadn’t he told him not to give Yamashita any ideas?

Pi watched the two with a soft frown. Normally Jin would have stuttered, blushed or attacked Pi for voicing out such things but today something was off. Jin tried his best to ignore the boy and Kazuya seemed to be confused by the officer’s behavior. Pi wasn’t stupid, he knew Jin had a crush on the runt, he had seen it coming ages before Jin himself had realized it. He wasn’t called the idiot officer’s best friend for nothing. So thus he could also tell something was off with the two and until he would find out what it was, he would take a break from teasing them.

So instead of acting on his character and jumping on Kazuya in order to harass him he gave Jin his best “we’ll discuss this later” -look and headed to the bathroom to look for the flashlight.

“I found it!” Kazuya shouted from the hallway. The flashlight was placed on the top shelf in the clauset, at a very logical place now that he thought about it.

“What about that?” Pi asked, coming out of the bathroom with his eyebrows raised. “That’s our murder weapon?”

“I think it is. The house was dark, he was sneaking at his wife who was having an affair and when he confronted her he probably just used whatever was close to hand. So the flashlight was my first guess,” Kazuya explained and reached for the plastic bag Yamashita held out towards him so he could put the heavy flashlight in it.

“I’m going back up,” Jin suddenly announced and walked away with a forced cold expression before the two had time to do anything. Pi picked up the opportunity and cleared his throat. He would test out how aware the boy was about Jin’s feelings.

“What’s with him? Is he on his period or something?” he asked and nodded towards the direction Jin had disappeared to.

“You’re definitely asking the wrong person. He’s like a jojo, one minute he’s super friendly and the next he’s calling me things. Usually nothing undeserved though, but he’s not really the type to fall back on petty name-calling, right?”

“Certainly not. He has his emotional eruptions but he never says mean things to others,” Pi said and raised his eyebrows. “Did you have a fight and he called you things? That’s why you’re both all tense around each other?”

“We did actually...” Kazuya started and looked nervously around the house. Everybody seemed to be upstairs so he continued. “He was more or less telling me I’d ruined everything, and I still think I have... but I hadn’t suspected to hear it from him like that.”

“Wow, that’s super rare for Jin,” Pi said, looking surprised. “What on earth did you say to him that caused him to explode?”

“I think I might’ve said that he wouldn’t have to deal with me anymore if he found it so vexing. That I would work with Ueda or Ryo instead.”

“He lost it when you suggested leaving him? And you don’t actually get the reason why he acts so weirdly around you in general?” Pi tilted his head and smiled mockingly, wordlessly asking “are you serious?”.

“What? I don’t know him, I’ve only been seeing you guys for a couple of weeks, how on earth would I know what he’s up to?” Kazuya asked irritatedly. Yamashita seemed to have a field day with his worries.

Pi stayed silent for a moment, observing Kazuya dumbfounded. He had known the boy was clueless when it came to love, but this oblivious? He couldn’t hold it in anymore. He grabbed Kazuya’s shoulder and leaned on it, bursting into enormous laughter.

“Poor Jin!” he exclaimed whilst laughing. “You’re really amusing. Promise to tell me when the day you actually understand everything dawns, will you?”

“You’re still not making any sense Yamashita. I think we should just forget about this conversation and confront the husband with the murder weapon or what ever it is you usually do to get a confession,” Kazuya answered, successfully shrugging Yamashita off his shoulder.

With this, Kazuya started up the stairs again and set course towards the bedroom, aiming for the lying husband.

“So, had you been suspecting that she was seeing someone else for long or was it a sudden realization?” Kazuya was standing, leaning against the end of the bed, eyeing the husband with his arms crossed. The bagged flashlight visible in his right hand.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the man shot back, looking anything but amused.

“I’m talking about the fact that you came back here with a plan, you were going to confront her with evidence so you hid and you watched as she met another man. Then you crawled out of your hiding place and confronted her. Those are just guesses, but what I do know is that you grabbed her, she fought back and broke a finger and that you clobbered her with this flashlight,” Kazuya stated coldly. Not getting the reaction he had hoped for from the man he decided to take it a step further.

“She’s still naked too, He must have just left when you appeared? Could you smell him on her?”

It only took a few seconds before realization hit the husband and his uninterested and grave face contorted into ugly fury.

“Shut up!” he shouted and left his place leaning against the wall, launching out at Kazuya.

Kazuya instinctively raised his arms to cover his face, waiting for the man to hit him to the ground when he heard running steps and someone blocked the way, another person joining a second after.

Jin had reacted instantly as he saw the man getting up. He had observed the situation from afar, not hearing what Kazuya had discussed with the man but the familiar feeling of protectiveness preventing him from tearing his eyes off the boy.

It took him no effort to dodge the blow the man was aiming at Kazuya and a second after Pi had come to his back-up and twisted the man’s arm behind his back, forcing him to lie on the ground.

“Don’t you dare to attack my favourite victim of teasing,” Pi said, looking dead-serious, as he cuffed the man struggling on the floor.

Jin stood in front of Kazuya until being certain the man wouldn’t be a threat anymore and then turned to Kazuya, grabbed him by his wrist and dragged him downstairs.

“I don’t know what got into you but don’t ever startle me like that again,” Jin said feverishly as he slammed the boy against one of the walls once they weren’t at a hearing distance from the others. “For a split second I thought I wouldn’t make it on time to block him, I almost had a heart attack.” Jin once again forgot to act distant and leaned his forehead against Kazuya’s, closing his eyes and taking in calming breaths.

“So what? It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he did hit me. You guys weren’t even believing me when I told you that he is the killer so I wanted to get him to confess to it.” Kazuya tried to wriggle out of Jin’s grip, but he was holding his wrists so tightly it hurt.

“I don’t want to see you get hit,” Jin said silently and fixed his big, slightly hurt eyes on Kazuya’s.

Kazuya drew in some air before he relaxed and let his head fall back against the wall. “The others are coming down now,” he informed Jin. Kazuya had a feeling that Jin would much rather have him fall off a cliff than let someone else see them standing this close.

Jin let go of Kazuya as if he had just gotten an electric shock from him and quickly backed off.

“Just be more careful next time,” he mumbled before going out, delving out his cigarettes on the way.

“You know I won’t,” Kazuya answered, but Jin was already too far away to hear it. Maybe it’d be a good idea to move in with Tat-chan and Ryo anyway, though he’d never feel as safe with them as he’d felt with Jin. That was up until now, because he could still feel Jin’s merciless fingers around his wrists as he leaned against the cold wall.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	7. Pillows and Butterflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate) (a.k.a. Rika).
> 
> The chapters are getting longer and longer so it's taking me longer and longer time to get to them... but I'm doing it, so please be patient with me as I try to upload this whole story to AO3 💜🙏 Here comes the seventh chapter!
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story *beware of spoilers*.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _April 2nd, 2012_

.

**Chapter 7 - Pillows and Butterflies**

Kazuya only needed to look at Matsumoto’s office for a few seconds before he decided that there was a gun in his right desk drawer, a newly dry cleaned suit in the closet beside the door, hairspray and a mirror in the bag beside his desk and probably a few hundred business cards in a box in the middle drawer of that same desk.

Matsumoto wanted to be a man of the old school, hence the gun, but looks was what he used to sell himself by. It didn’t even surprise Kazuya that Matsumoto was here at such an early hour, he was very likely at the office on a more regular basis than any of the officers. When everybody thought he was out having dinner with the mayor, he’d probably sit there, or walk around the corridors, keeping an eye on everyone. Kazuya respected that. It wasn’t common these days to see a person that lived their life only for their work and modeled themselves after it.

“Please sit,” Matsumoto said and smiled one of the more demure smiles in his repertoire and put his legs up on the corner of his desk.

“Here’s the file, we got the confession from the husband after Nishikido had a hearing with him. Horikita secured blood and DNA from the murder weapon and on the husband. It’s more or less clear what happened. I don’t think the district attorney’s office will have any issues with pulling this through in court,” Kazuya explained while he reached to hand Matsumoto the file. But Matsumoto had obviously not planned to let himself get beaten this easy.

With a big sigh and a dramatic throw of his permed curls, he leaned further back in the black leather chair he was sitting in and refused to take the file Kazuya handed him.

“We’re terribly undermanned here you know?”

Ah, so that was what he was getting at, Kazuya thought and smiled wryly. He guessed that the name _Kamenashi_ had played at least a small part in his access to the case.

“I’ve heard the same thing from more or less every official office in this town, from traffic control to social security,” Kazuya answered back and decided that he could also play this game.

“Okay then,” Matsumoto exclaimed and eased his legs off the desk so he could lean across it and stare Kazuya straight in the eyes, not a single trace of his flamboyant smiles left on his face.

“I’m very pleased that you’re doing such good work here with us, this case-” he waved slightly towards the file that now lay discarded at their side, “just proves that you’re an asset to this office. But,” he continued,” there’s also another dimension to this puzzle.”

“The dimension of why you let me do this in the first place?” Kazuya asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes! You see, very few of the officers seem to have noticed who you’re the son of, probably since they’re so used to thinking of you as Ueda’s cousin. I don’t even think Akanishi has thought about it at all,” the police chief paused and leaned in further, “there are, however, people who will recognize your name the moment you say it and those are the people I have to please in order to keep this station running as smoothly as poss-”

Kazuya figured he had heard enough and leaned in as well, cutting the chief off in his speech.

“So, you want me to show up at press conferences and wave prettily to the nice reporters? Or is it semi-private dinners and lunches?”

“Nothing like that at all... well, maybe sometimes,” Matsumoto admitted with the flash of an almost greedy smile. “What I most of all want is your permission to use your name to open a few doors. I’m a pretty handy pick-lock myself, but your name would enable me to make this station even more successful. I would like to consider it a partnership, I provide the cases for you and you clear political paths for me by just doing what you’re already doing so well.”

It was funny, Kazuya thought, that he didn’t even feel bothered by his father’s and his grandfather’s name opening a few doors for him. A normal young man would revolt, wanting to get on by the success of his own work and talent, but Kazuya just smiled in return. Matsumoto was back to his old self, face adorned with a smile worthy of a Hollywood star.

“So you’ll be a good sport and let me have my fun?” the chief asked while holding his hand out to Kazuya.

“Sure, just don’t bother dad, he’ll kill us both,” Kazuya replied and shook his new boss’ hand.

-

“So? What did he say?!” Ryo asked eagerly while walking with Kazuya back towards Ueda’s office.

“He dragged my name into it, I was almost waiting for it to happen. It was strange that no one had brought it up before,” Kazuya answered back and stopped a few seconds to let Ando’s secretary Koyuki pass by them in the corridor. She was carrying a huge stack of files towards the copy machine room.

“He did?!”

“Don’t worry, Matsumoto is a sensible man, he’ll know what bridges not to cross. He just wants to flaunt me now and then. Just enough so that he keeps the center of attention,” Kazuya explained, “dad doesn’t have to find out. Neither does grandpa.”

The officer raised an eyebrow and seemed to disagree. “Let’s just see what Tatsuya has to say about that.”

-

”Okay, out with it. What the hell has gotten into you?”

Pi sat on Jin's couch and crossed his legs, giving his friend an expectant look. Kazuya had gone to take the solved case to Matsumoto and Pi had taken the opportunity to follow his best friend into his office.

”What do you mean what has gotten into me,” Jin immediately defended himself and settled a stubborn mask on his face.

Pi sighed. ”Kamenashi.”

”What about him?” Jin hoped his involuntary twitch hadn't shown when the boy's name was mentioned. He shifted uncomfortably on his office chair.

”What do you mean 'what about him'?” Pi asked in annoyance. ”First you act like a total schoolgirl, stuttering and stuff and in the next moment you act like he doesn't exist. You're confusing him. Just pick a role and stick to it.”

”I have no idea what you're talking about,” Jin persistently lied.

Pi eyed his best friend for a good moment. Jin actually thought that he hadn't noticed that he had fallen for the runt? He had known the officer for many years and they had been through much together. He certainly had no problem noticing when Jin was infatuated. And according to his previous experiences, this one was more serious than his usual crushes. Well, in order to get their talk anywhere it seemed like he had to say it out loud.

”Listen, dumbass, I know you're head over heels for the brat. And don't try to deny it, I've known you long enough to tell. What I'm saying is that you should make a choice and stick to it. Whether you choose to confess or not, take the responsibility for your decision. If you are going to stay out of his way, don't approach him if you get emotional. If you want to be his friend, be his friend and stop avoiding him. Just, don't do it all at once, at the moment you're just a mess and you’re distracting Kamenashi from his work and it distresses him.”

Jin glared at Pi for a second before letting it go and slumping back on his chair with a tired sigh.

”I know, I just... I can't bring myself to stay away from him when he needs me. I want to step back since I know he would never feel anything for me and it hurts. I don't want to hold him if he doesn't feel like I do while doing it.”

”Wait, you've held him?”

”Yeah, when he was feeling anxious about the incident with the latest victim of our case. And after I yelled at him today as well.”

”So you first yell at him and then rush to hold him?” Pi asked, a hint of accusation in his voice.

”...yes,” Jin confessed miserably. ”I've meant to back off but I can't stay away if he's in trouble. Like at the crime scene. When the man tried to attack him, I couldn't control my emotions and ended up dragging Kamenashi out with me.”

”You know you can't keep that up and slow down the investigation. Even though Kamenashi hasn't realized your feelings, your behavior is slowing him down. If being his friend is painful to you, confess or back off for good. You know as well as I do that if he faces trouble, Ueda and Ryo will take care of him, it's not like you're the only one who cares for him here.”

”I know,” Jin said quietly and suddenly looked ten years older. Pi observed him in silence until the officer spoke up again. ”I'll have him move out of my house and I’ll drop out of the case.”

Pi smiled sadly. He had hoped the officer wouldn't give up without a fight and at least try to get to the boy by confessing. But if this was Jin's decision, he would respect it.

”Let's get wasted tonight,” Pi finally said. It was a wordless agreement that he would help the officer to get over his broken heart the best he could.

Jin smiled weakly. ”Yeah, let's.”

-

The flowers in Ueda’s office were not as bright and crisp as they had been the last time Kazuya was there, but their smell was enough to remind him. Remind him of how Jin had come rushing in, wanting to know if he had gotten there alright. Kazuya threw himself in the armchair placed in a corner between a filing cabinet and the desk, rubbing his eyes tiredly after removing his glasses. He seemed to do that a lot nowadays, feeling the strain.

“Oh, he’s not here yet,” Ryo said while walking in a few seconds later, “I thought Tatsuya would be back from the morning meeting by now.”

“I AM back from my morning meeting, I just went out for a coffee and a talk with Akanishi,” Ueda said while he walked past Ryo, straight to his desk and set his mug down on a coaster. Kazuya noted that it had a picture of a butterfly on it and that, somehow, made Ueda’s already familiar office feel even more like home. When Ueda was young enough to still want to play with Kazuya in the summers they would go out with glass jars and a net to catch insects in their grandparent’s garden. Even though Kazuya dreamed of catching an Ookuwagata beetle, nothing made the cool summer nights more magic than if he had filled a dussin of jars with butterflies, lining them up on Ueda’s window sill.

Kazuya smiled as he imagined going out to his grandparents’ estate, filling hundreds of jars with butterflies in the colors of the rainbow and lining them up on every window sill in Ueda’s house. He felt nostalgic.

“Kazuya? Are you listening to me?” Ueda asked while setting his mug down with a clash, “are you sure you’re alright?” he asked as he studied Kazuya’s face. For a minute he had looked like he was seven years old, chasing fireflies, but now Ueda could only watch as heavy reality set in and Kazuya’s shoulders fell back to a slope.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What were you saying?”

Ueda eyed him for a moment, apparently wondering if he should press on, but seemed to decide to let it be for now. “I said that Akanishi gave me his apartment key, so we’ll go over there after my shift ends and pick your things up.”

“Oh... right,” Kazuya answered, feeling somewhat bewildered. He had been the one to say that he wanted to move out, so why did it come as a surprise? He really wanted to move out, because before he moved in with Jin they had been fine. Now everything was a mess and he couldn’t see any other reason for it than the fact that he really was as hard to deal with as everybody had told him.

But Jin had been so normal about it, calling him a kid, always treating him like he would’ve with any young university student walking in telling him what to do. It had been normal, at least what Kazuya thought was normal. Instead of lingering on the subject he let his thoughts wander back to the new code the killer had provided them with and sank further back in the armchair.

_0104 052 78..._

-

Jin knocked on the door timidly and when hearing Matsumoto’s order to come in, entered the room. He took a calming breath and reminded himself that this had to be done. If he was to stay and solve the case with Kazuya, he would just mess everything up. Plus, he would have to endure being close to the boy which he didn’t feel he could comprehend at the moment.

Jin bowed down in front of Matsumoto’s curious eyes. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I have a request.”

“Shoot, I feel very generous today, a wish came true.” The police chief waved for Jin to sit down.

Jin warily took a seat and clenched his hands into fists against his thighs. He bit his lip insecurely and kept his gaze on his hands for a full minute before raising his eyes to meet Matsumoto’s.

“I want out of the case of the serial murderer.”

“Oh, you mean the Code-case?” Matsumoto asked and smiled proudly, “I overheard the guys down at narcotics talking about it. A really catchy name, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Jin said in confusion. “Anyway, if you don’t have any objections I’d like to-”

“But I DO have objections,” the chief cut in and dropped the smile, “You’re the most experienced officer on that case right now, I haven’t got neither the resources nor the time to start shifting around work teams and break up partnerships just to please your whims. Deal with whatever problem you’re having and get past it.”

“But sir, I’m sure Ueda or Yamashita would be much more suitable to be the head of the investigation and both of them would gladly take Kamenashi under their responsibility. As things are now, me being on the team would only slow us down. Please let me off the case,” Jin said with a hint of desperation in his voice. He didn’t usually protest Matsumoto's orders but this was a thing he needed to do, for everyone’s sake.

Matsumoto stared at Jin, eyes going from hard to soft. “Akanishi, sometimes we face hardships at our workplace which we feel inclined to somehow evade, but you’ll have to face this one. I know I’m putting you in the tight spot here, but please, make my life tolerable and fight this fight.” He raised himself and got out of his chair, walking up to the big window. With his back towards Jin he continued. “I won't pry into why you’ve had this sudden change of heart about the case, I’ll respect your privacy. Though you should remember that all things going on in this station will reach my ears eventually. Don’t make a mess out of things.”

Jin watched his respected chief’s back and tried to think of a way to talk himself out of the case without insulting the man or stepping on his toes. He found none. And at the moment he felt so tired, run-down and heartbroken he didn’t feel like spending his already limited energy for starting a fight and ruining one of the few good relationships he still had with his colleagues. He could deal with it, he would have to.

Jin bowed down. 

“I’m sorry for asking such things. I will work my hardest with the case.” And with that he exited the office and called Pi.

“Come to the roof. I need a cigarette.”

-

Jin stumbled to his front door and leaned on it while looking for his keys. Pi had offered to take him to his place for the night but he had decided to go home. He had to confirm the boy was really gone. He hadn't wanted to see him leave, for he must make sure he wouldn't get in Kazuya's way anymore. And seeing him exit his apartment with his bag would surely have made him show his emotions. Also, he had no idea what he could have said to the boy. He hated empty phrases like ”see you around” and ”take care”.

Jin grunted in annoyance and muttered something incoherent to himself when failing to find his keys. He tried the door. Locked, of course. It took him a while to remember that he had, in fact, given the keys to Ueda so they could fetch Kazuya's things without him.

”Where did he say he would leave those motherfucking...” Jin slurred to himself while holding on to the door knob in order to stay on his feet. The walls were circling around him dangerously and he knew he would fall and pass out right there if he didn't find the keys soon.

Finally his brain agreed to collaborate with him for a second and he remembered they would be under the very door mat he was standing on at the moment. With a grunt he let go of the knob and took a step back, fighting to keep his balance.

When feeling confident enough he bent down and lifted the mat, just to see the keys there as agreed. He smiled to himself in victory until he wobbled to the side dangerously and fell down.

”Fucking fuck, this is bullshit!” he said to himself, not minding the volume of his voice. His neighbours could suck it. He grabbed the keys and got up with much effort, finally getting to the point of actually opening the door.

After a long struggle to remove his shoes he was finally standing in the hallway, wondering what to do next. He heard no sounds. Well, of course, considering Kazuya had left. But being alone in his apartment after getting used to the boy's presence felt worse than he had been mentally prepared for.

Jin whimpered to himself and walked to the kitchen, planning on having a glass of water. But when he reached the sink, he froze.

There were two sets of chopsticks that he had been too lazy to wash. One of which had been used by Kazuya not too long ago when they had eaten Chinese together. It felt like years had passed since the night he had woken up to hold Kazuya, and that night would be the most he would ever get to have of the boy. And since Matsumoto had denied his request of dropping out of the case, he would have to watch Kazuya from afar for God knows how long.

It was that thought that made Jin grab a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet instead.

Jin abandoned the thought of having something to eat so he merely stumbled to his bedroom and came crashing down on the bed with a loud sigh.

After a minute he crawled to a sitting position and crossed his legs, opening the bottle of whiskey. He took a couple of deep draughts and breathed in.

”I'm better off without him, right?” he said, waiting for an answer from the empty flat. When receiving none, he reached out blindly and grabbed a pillow, holding it against his chest. It smelled like shampoo and Kazuya and it made his heart jolt.

”You know, you smell just like my friend,” he said, his words so slurred that even he himself had a hard time understanding them. ”Well, he's not my friend anymore, he left. What do you say about that, huh?”

The pillow remained silent and Jin decided to have some more whiskey.

”What's your name?” he asked after taking a sip and wincing at the burning sensation in his throat.

”Right, you can't talk, you're a pillow,” Jin said and uttered a laugh. He realized that he was actually sitting on his bed talking to a pillow. ”Talk about pathetic,” he said aloud.

”I'll call you Condoriano,” he said and giggled at his choice of name for the inanimate object. ”You know, Condoriano, he left.” Jin remained silent and suddenly had to hold back tears. He hugged the newly named Condoriano and sniffled.

”It's lonely. It's so lonely without him. But it's for the best. Right, buddy?” Jin let the tears out and laid down in the center of the bed, hugging the pillow and the bottle of Whiskey until falling asleep.

-

_067 04562 8452..._

The numbers were running around in his head again, circling and making small jots and turns as they moved back and forth, closer and further away from showing him their true form. Kazuya sighed and kicked a pillow out of the bed, frustrated and angry at how slow his thought process had become. He needed to clear his head, he needed to run. After rooting around in his hastily packed bag, he pulled on a pair of shorts, a hoodie and headed out to the streets.

When he arrived at Ueda’s doorstep three hours later, at 4.35 in the morning, he was drenched in sweat. But his head felt so much clearer. A hell of a lot clearer.

-

“Mr. Kamenashi?”

“Huh?”

With a snap of his head he returned to reality and looked questioningly at the officer who had spoken to him.

“I just wanted to know if you’re finished with those photographs? Akanishi needs them when he’s going to the crime scene later.”

“Sure, take them,” Kazuya answered and hastily collected the scattered pictures and folded the file to a close. The young officer bowed with a thankful smile and hurried off in the direction of the cafeteria.

Too busy to ask me himself? Kazuya wondered and watched the back of the retreating officer. He wasn’t much older than Kazuya, maybe even younger. He was above all a normal young man without a series of numbers constantly spinning and spinning in his head.

Jin had been avoiding him for two days now, hardly ever being in his office, always out “taking a look at” something. It bothered Kazuya in more ways than one. Most of all it was the sheer lack of professionalism. How he executed hearings and questioned neighbours and witnesses, without even once telling Kazuya where he was planning to go. It irked him, made him want to stand up and demand an explanation. But he had learnt one thing, he had learnt to pick his fights and this wasn’t even close to being the right one.

Kazuya could only growl silently to himself and turn his gaze to endless amounts of new files, new theories, new background information, that kept pouring in.

He never thought about what those other reasons to why he disliked Jin avoiding him could be.

-

Maybe it wasn’t a code, maybe it was a decoy, maybe it was a way of fucking with him? Kazuya closed the book on psychology he had lying on his lap and started stretching his sore neck by rolling his head from side to side, back and forth.

How many days had it been? Five or six? It was impossible to keep the count when night merged with day and the only time his mind could relax was when he took his nightly run. Yesterday had been a mildly good day, just because he hadn’t even seen Jin or heard his name. It felt like being a kid all over again, when he never played with the others because he was too caught up in a book about Newton or Leonardo da Vinci. Too caught up in learning how to play baseball for the first time. Too caught up in joining the math team, making his first computer, dropping all club activities, getting dragged to an amusement park by Ueda and realizing that he had no idea how to smile at the camera as they passed it on the roller coaster.

No one ever asked him why he disliked being called a kid. If they did he would answer that it was because he never was one.

-

Jin looked like he was trying to start a new fashion for an untimely beard in the middle of the summer. He had dark circles under his eyes and his lips were chapped and dark red. It was the first time he was anywhere near Kazuya, even sitting in the same room with him, as Kazuya explained some basic facts about codes and numbers to some of the younger officers aiming for a lift in their career. It was only for a few minutes though, as soon as Ueda returned from his office with the form Jin wanted, he left.

Kazuya could work all night and all day if he had to. He did too, because in his sleep he dreamed of dead bodies, straggly numbers and a bonfire made out of human flesh. The few hours he had allowed himself to sleep that was.

He told them about how all computers thrive and run on numbers, binary ones, that carry all the information that you could ever possibly want to store, send, record, copy or just write down. This he knew everything about, he could even recite complete books about psychology, or whole lectures held by Ooshima. Yet he couldn’t really figure out why Jin’s absence bothered him so.

He had never known that this was what he would end up doing while he slid down that muddy slope so many weeks ago. He was just going to confirm that his theories about the sprayed message were correct. Then Jin had hit him. He had hit him hard.

-

“...as you can see the crime scene is a back alley in a business area near the city center. The location isn’t interesting in itself, so I’ll just head on to the more important issues,” Ando lectured from the front of the auditorium. Kazuya had been dragged to one of those obligatory-murder-investigation-meetings that Ando always held when he thought he needed to fire an investigation up. That was what Ryo had told him anyway.

At some point he had decided to leave, but seeing the row of police officers he had to sneak by to be able to do so, he gave up on that idea. Instead he occupied himself with counting how many times Ando could correct his tie before the knot got too tight and he had to loosen it. Kazuya approved of formal wear in the workplace. He didn’t approve of Ando in or without formal wear in this workplace. He couldn’t imagine any workplace suitable for Ando... if he stretched his imagination he might agree to him working at a graveyard.

Somewhere to his left he could hear Jin sniggering about something with Yamashita, Kazuya guessed it was how Ando almost called Matsumoto by Horikita’s nickname for him, “Mr. Marvellous”.

If Kazuya turned his head just so and gazed slightly towards the big clock on the wall, he could see them in the corner of his eye. Jin, Yamashita and Ando’s secretary Koyuki. Yamashita was trying his best to show his best feathers to her, but she was more occupied with the big pictures shown on the screen.

She was looking awfully pale, Kazuya noted, and turned his eyes back to the pictures himself, only to be met by the now so familiar pictures of the second murder victim, Watanabe Reiko. The pictures weren’t really off her though, they were of her intestines spread out on the dirty ground.

“Are you alri-”

Kamenashi turned around fully this time, not bothering to hide the fact that he was looking. Yamashita had stood up, turned towards the secretary, but Jin was already at his feet as well, interrupting Yamashita’s question. Koyuki, on the other hand, didn’t look fit to stand up at all. Her pale face was now bordering on green and she was trembling like a leaf. Kazuya watched as Jin lifted her to her feet and took her arm, leading her out of the room before she could pass out.

It was hard to tell who was more confused, bitter, angry or shocked. He or Yamashita.

-

”Thank you. I'm really no good with blood and stuff like that,” Koyuki said with a small voice.

Jin had his arm around the woman and he couldn't help but think about the rant Pi would give him later on for rushing to Koyuki before him. But he thought that the last thing the secretary needed right now was flirting and flattering, but instead a strong, friendly shoulder without any ulterior motives.

”No problem, there wasn't anything in the meeting I didn't know already,” Jin said as he helped her sit down on one of the benches outside the auditorium.

”Wait a minute, I'll go buy you some water.”

”Ah, no need to, I can manage,” Koyuki objected but Jin was already on his way to a vending machine near them. He bought a bottle of water and as it fell for him to reach, took it and turned back to Koyuki, who was holding her head, looking weak.

”Here you go.” Jin handed the bottle to Koyuki after walking back to her and sitting down.

”Thank you,” Koyuki said and opened the bottle, taking tiny sips in a timid way. Jin distantly noted that if his mind wasn't so tightly set on only thinking about Kazuya, he might have found Koyuki cute. But as things were now, he merely smiled kindly.

”Feeling better?”

”Yeah, a little...” Koyuki looked doubtful for a minute before hesitantly speaking up. ”May I ask you something?”

”Yeah?”

”Is everything alright? I mean, you've seemed really tired and sad lately.” The question caught Jin off guard and he pondered what to answer for a minute. To most people he would have answered ”no” and laughed but when he thought about it, Koyuki was actually one of the rare people he wouldn't mind talking to.

”Well, it's been pretty tough lately,” he finally said and dropped his gaze to his hands.

”Is the case tiring you out?”

”Of course, but it's not the only reason,” Jin answered and cleared his throat.

”You can tell me. But if you don't want to, of course you don't have to,” Koyuki said. Jin lifted his eyes briefly just to see the woman smiling compassionately at him.

”It's nothing too serious, just a broken heart,” he finally said and remained staring at his hands.

”Oh.” Realization was audible in Koyuki's voice. ”So she didn't feel the same way?”

”There's no way we could end up together so I didn't even confess. I'll just keep it to myself in order to make things easier for hi- her.”

”I see...” Koyuki was silent for a moment, pondering something before continuing. ”That's a very brave decision and you must be a strong person to be able to carry it out even though it's hard. If you need someone to talk to, I'm always ready to listen to you, just call me. You know, even the darkest of times do pass.”

”Yeah... Thank you,” Jin said, feeling a tiny bit better. He hadn't been prepared for Koyuki to actually be able to comfort him, he had just wanted to get some of it off his chest. Pi's support mainly consisted in offering him company and keeping his mind off Kazuya by playing video games and watching movies with him. And of course Pi was always with him in the bar, calling him a cab and helping him to the bathroom to puke when he got so wasted he couldn't get to the bar's toilet by himself. Jin was grateful for that of course, but hearing comforting words like these were a different thing.

Jin thought about it. Maybe he should try to talk about his feelings some more since Koyuki was happy to listen and she obviously had plenty of experience about comforting heartbroken friends. A thing girls did more often than boys, Jin concluded.

”I just hope this won't last for too long. I feel super lonely. I just try to get distracted and work like crazy. When I'm off-work I hang out with Pi or drink. I- I've just stopped caring about everything. It no longer takes me any effort to avoid this person. In fact, I'm scared of meeting again. I've somehow learned to live with this, if I see this person now it might just break my heart again.”

”Oh, Akanishi,” Koyuki said emphatically and hugged him quickly. ”I know it's hard now, but think a year from now. Then you can be proud that you actually were strong enough to make the decision you felt was the right one and live through it.”

Jin made a mental note to himself to think about the 'year-from-now' aspect when it would get hard since it managed to create a little boost of determination to him. Or maybe it was Koyuki's presence. Horikita had been right when she had once mentioned the secretary's aura was calm and gentle. If he had believed in that kind of woo-woo, that is.

”You're right. Thank you, Koyuki.” Jin managed to form up a small, genuine smile before the doors to the auditorium were slammed open with the officers coming out. Apparently the meeting had ended and everyone was to go back to work.

When Jin saw the thin boy with glasses stepping out with Ueda and Ryo, he quickly turned his back to the crowd and waited until he was certain Kazuya had already passed him. He then turned to Koyuki, who was observing him questioningly.

”I didn't want Ueda and the others to see me, they would unload a pack of files on me anyway and I've got my hands full,” he explained hastily and laughed in a manner he hoped sounded authentic. To his relief, the secretary only let out a tiny noise of understanding.

”I think I should get back to work now, there's some calls I need to make,” Koyuki said and got up.

”Oh, yeah, me too,” Jin realized and followed Koyuki's example. ”Well then, see you later. And thank you, really.”

”Thank you for helping me back there,” Koyuki said and smiled. ”Try to limit your drinking, though, I'm worried about your health.”

”Yeah, I'll try. See you,” Jin said and started walking towards his office where he sat down and sighed. The familiar pain had come back during his walk and all the things Koyuki had said that had seemed so soothing just a minute ago now seemed cold and empty and meaningless.

-

It was somehow comforting to know that he hadn’t been wrong about Jin, he was the emphatic and caring criminal detective he had thought he was. Kazuya nodded in agreement with himself and took another sip of his cooling tea. Jin had come to Koyuki’s rescue, it was hours ago, but Kazuya found himself thinking about it again and again. Everyone else but him would be saved by Jin now. To be the only exception to the rule was familiar grounds, he could navigate there and knew what reactions he would get from his surroundings. It didn’t feel safe at all anymore, not like when Jin watched over him as a hawk, but it was back to something of a normality. A normality for Kazuya.

“Mr. Love-Aura! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Horikita had suddenly appeared beside Kazuya and was now impatiently dragging him up by his hand.

“What? What is it Horikita? Is something wrong?” Kazuya asked, trying to keep his balance as the surprisingly strong woman pulled him along.

“I have a theory. I need you to confirm it,” Horikita replied. After successfully getting Kazuya to come with her she had begun to watch ahead expressionlessly, not sparing a glance to the boy. She was taking Kazuya to the morgue, judging by the way they kept going down.

“Is it about the case? Did we miss something? I’ve been going over it over and over again! Don’t tell me I missed something!” Kazuya exclaimed feeling hopelessly defeated. This was just what he needed, a failure, then this week would be the worst week of his life.

“Just come along, human child,” Horikita answered before opening the door to the morgue and waving for Kazuya to go in. “Mr. Bad-Puns! I have claimed Mr. Love-Aura!” she announced to Taguchi, who was sitting not too far away from them, looking nervous.

Kazuya gave the other an encouraging smile, or at least what he imagined one to look like and walked in as instructed, stopping close to the door in case he wanted to flee and needed an escape route.

Horikita had no intentions of letting Kazuya escape. She grabbed his arm and pointed at the floor, watching him unblinkingly. “Down,” she said with her monotone voice.

“Down? On the floor?” Kazuya retorted, feeling far from positive about her suggestion.

“Yeah, hurry up.” A tiny hint of impatience appeared in her voice. “I need to try out my theory.”

He looked back and forth between the pathologist and the laboratory assistant, trying to deduce if they were trying to fool him or if they were serious. A part of him felt a bit sorry for Taguchi, being bossed around by the small woman, so he turned a deaf ear to the voices of warning and lied down on the cold floor as gracefully as possible.

“Okay, Mr. Bad-Puns, put your hands on his temples like I instructed you and close your eyes,” Horikita guided, suddenly sounding more energized than Kazuya had ever seen before.

“Wait, what is this? What exactly is this theory you’re testing on me?”

“Shh!” Horikita sounded surprisingly irritated. “You’re breaking the energy wall Mr. Bad-Puns tries to create!”

Taguchi had closed in, sitting on his knees on Kazuya’s side, hands nervously hovering near his head. If the lab assistant hadn’t been there, Kazuya would’ve run away from this occult ceremony in a heartbeat, but he didn’t even want to imagine poor Taguchi having to do this to another person she would lure down to her lair. After a few moments of deliberation he sighed and nodded towards Taguchi.

“Think about the rhyme I taught you before and try to feel Mr. Love-Aura’s energy. Can you feel it?” Taguchi nodded madly even though Kazuya could clearly see he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing.

“Okay, concentrate on filling the energy with yours. Feel the energy wall you’ve created melt to be part of Mr. Love-Aura.” Horikita sounded passionate, like she was in the middle of giving a deeply touching religious prophecy.

Absolutely nothing happened. Kazuya could see that Taguchi tried his hardest to make it look like it did. Well, to be fair, something did happen, but it was just the fact that lying down reminded Kazuya of sleep. How long had it been since he was able to sleep and how long had it been before that? How was it that when in Jin’s presence he could sleep even though he’d had a minor mental breakdown but now he couldn’t sleep at all? It was no use in complaining, so Kazuya tried to think of how he should look in order to convince Horikita that whatever Taguchi was doing actually had an effect.

“Do you feel energized, Mr. Love-Aura?” Horikita asked once Taguchi had hesitantly nodded to her and withdrawn his hands. Her expression was expectant and it even remotely looked like she was excited.

“Eh... yes?” he answered, hoping it was the right thing to say.

“I was right!” Horikita exclaimed and got up, looking utterly satisfied. “My theory was right. Mr. Bad-Puns obviously holds the power of energy healing.” She smiled at Taguchi and took his hand to pull him up, completely forgetting all about Kazuya lying on the floor between the two of them.

“W-would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” Taguchi asked, clearly just now finding the courage to do so. It would’ve been a nice scene if Kazuya could watch it from somewhere other than “underneath”.

“I would be most delighted. I bought this very interesting book about fortune telling from tea leaves, would you like to read it with me?” Horikita looked like she was far more interested in the book than Taguchi, but it didn’t prevent the latter from blushing in satisfaction and following the woman out of the morgue, completely forgetting Kazuya who was leaning up off the floor supported by his arms wondering what he had ever done to deserve this week.

-

“Okay, Kamenashi, you can go in, Ando is already waiting for you,” Koyuki said and smiled compassionately. Apparently she was very aware of the fact that no one ever went to her boss’s office for other reasons than getting scolded.

He hadn’t slept properly this night either, not even managing to go for a run. Kazuya’s head was buzzing with information, everything moving at different speeds and in different directions. The case would never get solved if he couldn’t get his mind sorted out.

It didn’t get better by the fact that Ando had called him up to his office either, it was annoying and it would consume much needed time elsewhere. But Jin had talked about respect, it was about time he showed he had some.

He recognized the contour of Jin at once, scruffy looking ponytail and broad shoulders. Ando was looking very pleased with himself as Kazuya sat down in the chair next to Jin, facing the senior officer.

“So, Akanishi, Kamenashi, any ideas why you’re here?” Ando said, his eyes twinkling dangerously when observing the two.

“Nope,” Jin grunted. He had given Kazuya a quick glance when the boy had come in and immediately turned his gaze to stare at the wooden surface of Ando’s desk stubbornly, careful not to let his eyes linger on Kazuya.

“How about you, Kamenashi? Do you know why you’re here today?”

Kazuya suppressed a snort and managed to cough a little before he shook his head. He didn’t feel like playing along with Ando’s little game, but he wanted to show himself and Jin that he could act normal, that he wasn’t just arrogance and spite.

“Well, I would just like to know why the case isn’t progressing at all even though I was convinced that letting this little amateur here meddle in would get it solved in no time,” Ando said, his voice silky and gentle.

Jin bit his lip in order to prevent himself from jumping up from his chair and drag Kazuya away from the gaze of those ominous eyes. Instead he contented himself with clenching his hand into a fist, hoping Kazuya wouldn’t notice it.

“A lot of things are on stake with this case,” Ando continued, his anger becoming visible little by little. “I admit it looked good at first. You managed to solve a code all by yourself and lead us to the third victim, Kamenashi, but since then things haven’t been quite as pleasant. I’m beginning to wonder if your previous accomplishments have been just pure luck. I know you’re both on Matsumoto’s list of favourites, but neither of you have convinced me into thinking you’re worthy of the position you have claimed.”

“I’m sorry to have disappointed you, sir,” Kazuya bit back, not even close to making it sound regretful and submissive.

Jin couldn’t help it, he had to give Kazuya a warning glance from the corner of his eye. He was mentally screaming for Kazuya to not irritate Ando. He wouldn’t get kicked out, not while Matsumoto was still fond of him, but the man sure as hell could otherwise make Kazuya’s life miserable.

“What about you, Akanishi? Nothing to say even though Kamenashi is your responsibility?” Ando shifted his gaze to the officer.

Jin had to force the next words out. He couldn’t possibly act out his urges and scream that Kazuya had done a magnificent job and point out how exhausted the boy was because of the pressure. “He’s an adult and is responsible for himself. My responsibility for him lies only with making sure he doesn’t mess up the investigation. Which he hasn’t.”

“Oh, I see. Are you even close to solving the latest code, Kamenashi?”

Jin’s eyes widened as he heard the words. Kazuya was solving the code even though he had specifically ordered him not to? Jin might had decided to stay away from Kazuya but there was no way he would allow the boy to get in direct contact with the murderer again.

“I think it’s better we let someone else solve the code. Kamenashi has previously clarified his mental state can’t comprehend interacting with the murderer,” Jin said silently, literally feeling the boy’s eyes on him.

“Oh?” Ando sounded pleased by the fact the officer had shown him a weak spot where to hit the boy. “Is that so, Kamenashi?” He lazily drifted his eyes to Kazuya, smiling in satisfaction.

“I HAVE been working on the code, I can recite it to you backwards and forwards and in any fashion you want to hear it. But the key is missing and probably even a big part of it, I can’t solve the code. No one can solve the code the way it looks now,” Kazuya answered back. Ando was really getting on his nerves, to hell with professionalism, respect and knowing one’s place, Kazuya wanted to yell back and throw a tantrum. How could Jin just sit there and silently take it? But as long as Jin wanted to play the game, Kazuya guessed he had to keep it up as well.

“I see. If you can’t solve the code, no one can. It’s good you don’t think too highly of yourself, Kamenashi,” Ando said with a mocking tone. “I must say I’m really disappointed I’m not the chief of this station. I would have kicked you out long ago, Kamenashi. And I also would’ve happily given you the permission to drop off this case, Akanishi. What a pity, this station would work so much better if I was in charge.”

“Can I go now?” Jin said as soon as Ando closed his mouth to take a breath. He wanted to get out of the situation, away from Kazuya and the familiar scent he couldn’t stop from flowing to his nose.

“I expect progress in near future. I don’t care what it costs, we’re not going to lose points in the public’s eyes. Am I making myself clear?” Ando squinted his eyes as he shifted his gaze from one silent man to the other. Jin let out a noise to agree and dashed out without bowing or even glancing at Kazuya.

Even though Kazuya mustered up a “yes sir,” he felt anything but coherent. Jin had asked to be taken off the case? He had wanted out and that’s why he was now avoiding him like plague, because Kazuya was a thorn in his eyes that he wasn’t allowed to get rid of? The already boiling heat from pent up anger after Ando’s pointless ramblings was on the verge of overheating him completely as he walked out of the office and headed towards the staircases. He wanted to shout at something, wanted to scream and above all he wanted an explanation.

It was early morning and Jin was standing alone on the roof, later there would be people here and there, spread out and talking while taking a break. Most of them would be smoking, like Jin was now, standing with his back towards Kazuya, not knowing what was to be expected before Kazuya grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around by force.

“For how long has this been going on?! Was it from the first day?! Did you want to get off the case even then?” Kazuya yelled, not caring if anyone walked up there right then and heard him.

Jin was startled for a second before forcing himself to calm down. This was it. This was the moment he had both feared and waited for: the time to cut ties for good. He felt a painful clenching feeling in his chest but managed to hide it.

“It’s none of your concern,” he said coldly and dragged a long inhale from his cigarette before squeezing it to the ashtray.

“The hell it is! No one’s got the right to lie to me and trample on me! I deserve an explanation,” Kazuya spit back.

“It’s your own fault for being gullible and trusting people. I’m sorry for bursting your bubble but as a person investigating a murder case you should know people betray each other all the time.” Every word Jin let out felt like the knife in his heart was taken out and stuck back in again and again. He clenched his jaws and waited, begging for the boy to just get the message and leave.

Kazuya stared at Jin with fiery eyes, not knowing if he was going to explode or break down, how dared he? How dared he make Kazuya take the blame?

“In that case, now that we’re all about sharing our thoughts about each other, then I’d like to add some of my own. I thought you were an honorable man, with principles and morals, but if you really mean what you’ve said you’re worse than scum. The thieves and the murderers at least have talent or brains, you’re just a dumb police officer who couldn’t become a singer and can’t even behave like a human being!” Kazuya stopped to collect his breath before he said the very last thing he wanted said, “I hate you!”

The last words sent Jin’s well-built mask flying down the rooftop as he felt tears gathering to his eyes. He quickly turned around, saving whatever there was to be saved. He wouldn’t show his face to Kazuya, not when every single one of the emotions he had been carrying the last few days were there, he himself was unable to control them anymore.

“Why couldn’t you just walk away and let me be?” His voice was shaky as he tried to hold back his tears in order to form understandable speech.

“Why couldn’t you just let me do what was best for both of us? Why couldn’t Matsumoto just let me off the case? I-” his voice broke down and he had to crouch.

“Because you’re an even bigger disappointment than I am.” Kazuya had just now realized it. He had put too much faith in them both.

“I know that,” Jin said with a weak voice. “I know this wasn’t supposed to happen, I should never have-” he stopped abruptly.

“Lied to me? Deceived me? Played me just because I’m a freak? What Akanishi, what?”

“Fallen for you,” Jin said with a barely audible voice. He had ruined everything and now he had just said aloud the thing he had decided to keep from the boy for life. He closed his eyes and gathered the remains of his voice before standing up and facing Kazuya.

“Leave me alone,” he said as calmly as he could and walked away.

Kazuya followed Jin with his eyes as he left the rooftop, leaving Kazuya on it, even more confused now than he had been an hour ago. Love, the subject he theoretically knew everything about yet could never grasp the functions behind. It was something so big and groundbreaking that it nestled it’s way into everybody’s lives, except for Kazuya’s. It hurt, feeling left out, watching a person that somehow had managed to actually fall in love with him walk away in utter heartbreak.

Kazuya had never loved, yet he had broken a heart. He needed to get away from this place, from codes and yard after yard of files. He needed a break.

-

Jin had no idea what the woman's name was. He slumped against her, causing them both to fall against the door of the taxi. Fortunately the driver had been smart enough to lock the doors so they wouldn't accidentally open them and fall on the road.

”Oh, careful there,” the woman said and giggled, pressing against Jin's chest. The touch felt unfamiliar and wrong but he pushed the feeling aside and cupped her face to kiss her. He would forget all about Kazuya tonight. He just wanted a break, he craved for oblivion. Pi had tried to stop him and Jin himself knew that he would regret this the next morning but he didn't care. He wanted to get back to normal. He needed the physical contact, even if it was with someone he didn't know and whose face he wouldn't probably remember the next morning.

Just as he was about to lean down and lock their lips, the taxi driver turned on the radio, apparently to cover their lusty noises he suspected would soon fill the silence.

Jin distantly heard a line from the lyrics of the song randomly playing on the radio, and froze. It was a western song and he distantly recalled he had heard it earlier. The smooth voice of the female singer invaded his brain and even in his drunken state he could understand the lyrics. Heartbreak, sorrow, buried feelings, everything he felt underneath the drunken surface. It brought back all of his memories. The first time he had seen Kazuya, how he had walked the boy away from his dorm with an arm around him, how he had held him during that night. He remembered his face, his voice, his scent, his touch when he had leaned on him shivering during the panic attack. Jin stared into nothing for a while before retreating, neglecting the woman's confused gaze.

”What's wrong?” Jin heard her ask. He sighed deeply and wiped away a tear.

”I confessed to someone who I knew could never return my feelings and ruined everything,” Jin heard himself slur back.

”She must be stupid for not wanting a man like you,” she answered and patted his shoulder.

”He,” Jin blurted out before he could stop himself. This woman was a stranger after all, he had no reason to hide it.

”He? So you're-”

”I'm not gay,” Jin said in frustration. ”But I would go gay for him. Well, him and Johnny Depp.” He uttered a laugh.

”I see.”

”But tonight...” Jin pushed his sorrowful feelings aside and forced his attention to the attractive woman in front of him. ”Tonight I want to forget all about him with your help,” he finished and caught her again, this time successfully kissing her. The woman giggled and let his hands wander all around her body until they arrived at their destination, Jin's home.

-

When he woke up the next morning, the woman had gone and he was left alone, snuggling the very pillow he had named Condoriano some nights ago. Jin was glad for waking up without her, he had never been good at explaining that he wasn't looking for permanent company and that it had just been a one-night stand. So whenever someone got the hint and left by herself, he was grateful.

Jin took a deep breath and winced. The sheets smelled like strong perfume and hairspray. He rolled on his back and put an arm on his face. He hated mornings. He hated the feeling of waking up and not remembering what he was supposed to feel bad about and then feeling the weight of his memories crushing him once again.

Jin got up and got ready for work, not noticing the clearly visible kiss mark on his neck.

He grunted as his phone rang, the ringtone making his headache worse. From the called ID he saw it was Pi. He answered with a tired tone.

”I know, I screwed up.”

”Actually I was calling to ask if you want a ride.” Pi knew Jin would realize his mistake, there was no point in scolding him.

”Oh. Thanks.”

”How was it?”

”I can't remember. Luckily she had already left when I woke up.”

”Jin,” Pi's voice was suddenly gentle. ”You know as well as I do that you shouldn't do that. You just make yourself feel worse.”

”Yeah.”

”Is that a permission to stop you next time you are about to do this kind of thing, no matter what it takes?”

”Yeah, don't let me do this again. Knock me out if nothing else works.”

”Roger that, I've been craving to hit your dumb head with something,” Pi announced.

”Shut the fuck up and come get me, wanker,” Jin answered with a small smile. At least he still had his best friend.

-

The summer heat had arrived and the air conditioning systems were sending the air vibrating through the lecture hall. It reminded Kazuya of his computers, left untouched in his dorm room for over a week. It didn’t really help that Ueda’s personal computer was slow and that Ryo’s was filled with something Kazuya didn’t even want to discover. He missed the buzzing hymn of his computers. 

Outside the windows a faint breeze brushed through the foliage of distant trees. He wanted to go out to the baseball field and run with it, the wind sending the soft sand up in the air as his feet dug into it. But he was too tired, too tired to think of anything else or do anything else than repeating the code in his head. If only he could find the rest of it, if only he could save someone, catch the killer and put an end to everybody’s misery. Right now it seemed as distant as his childhood summers.

He was eight years old when Ueda went to Volleyball camp instead of coming to their grandparents house that summer. Kazuya remembered that his mother had been holding him in her arms when she told him the news, as if she expected him to throw a tantrum. It was when he had stared into her eyes, trying to understand why she looked so distraught, that he had realized that maybe he wasn’t like everybody else.

Maybe he would never be able to catch this killer if he couldn’t even realize that Jin had fallen for him. It might just be a mere crush, but there had been signs everywhere. Nervous stuttering, uncontrollable outburst of emotions, red cheeks, an urge to protect, to control, to obtain and to touch. It was just that Kazuya could never ever really imagine himself in a relationship with anyone at all. So why would anyone even bother to see him as a suitable candidate for something that he was more than unsuitable for?

This puzzle was killing him, both of them were, the code and the crush.

Ooshima’s loud voice carried him back to the lecture hall and familiar facts about cognitive processes filled his mind, but only for an hour or so, later he was back thinking about numbers and pink scrunchies.

-

“You look awful Kazu-chan, what’s going on?” Ryo asked while pulling out from the parking lot. Ueda had gotten stuck at work and couldn’t come and get him from school like he had done the past days, so Ryo had been sent in his car to fetch him instead.

“Nothing important, just some bad dreams,” Kazuya answered, focus already shifted away from present to past, mind travelling the seas of time.

“You should try some of Horikita’s meditation tapes. I’ve got one at home that I managed to hide from Tatsuya, don’t tell him okay?” Ryo joked with that big grin of his, white teeth glimmering against his always tanned skin. He had a weird sense of humor, the few times he even tried to make a joke.

“Right, as if,” Kazuya snorted back, “the only thing that could ever make Tat-chan chase you out of the house would be if you pinned a butterfly to the wall.”

Ryo glanced at him in surprise after changing a file at the highway. “But doesn’t he love butterflies?”

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t stick needles into them, stupid-” Kazuya felt the words getting stuck in his throat. Bantering, bickering and teasing. Everything reminded him of Jin, of a big brutish criminal detective, the first person that had actually said he wanted to be Kazuya’s friend. The first person to fall in love with Kazuya. And Kazuya wished that no one else would.

Curiosity took over as he hesitated between finding out something new about Jin and letting it be. “Has Akanishi made any progress?” he asked when Ryo didn’t seem too preoccupied with yelling at the other cars on the road.

“That idiot wouldn’t be able to find his own nose right now. Ando is chasing him up and down the station most of the time and the rest of the time he’s just missing. Pi said he’d take care of it though.” Ryo paused to give the finger to a middle aged woman who was making a turn without signaling. “Anyway, how could any of us make progress when you’re not getting anywhere with it either?”

Kazuya smiled and nodded, “Yeah, you’re lost without me. You all depend on me and you’ll never be able to do your work properly without me there showing you the light. I know.”

“That was exactly what Pi told Jin yesterday... Oh! Akanishi came into the station with a kiss mark a few days ago! Now THAT’S progress if you ask me,” Ryo smirked with a lopsided grin, but it soon faded into a frown. “Fuck, all this talk about work reminds me that I forgot my keys at the station. I need to go to my locker and get them. Okay with you?” Ryo asked.

“Do you know if Yamashita is still at work?” Kazuya asked while staring out the window. A kiss mark? It was confusing and it annoyed Kazuya. Why on earth would he react like this when hearing that Jin had a kiss mark on him? Only Pi knew the whole story, except for Jin himself, that’s why Kazuya decided he would give him a small visit. Hadn’t he himself told him that he should come look for him once he figured out what Jin was up to? 

The other looked back at him in surprise and grinned even wider than before. “What do you want to talk to Yamashita for?”

“I just... need to go over a few things with him about that case we solved a week ago, he wanted me to fill him in on a.. thing.”

“Uhuh, if you’re sure. He’s in his office right now I guess, but don’t come crying to me later.” Ryo said while once again concentrating on the traffic. “There’s rumours floating around that he eats kids like you for breakfast.”

-

“Well?” Pi asked as he leaned back on his chair and eyed Kazuya, who had come to his office and asked to have a word with him. Pi was curious. He knew it had something to do with Jin and his confession and he was actually dying to know what the boy thought about it all.

“I just came in to see if you were doing your job properly or if you were dancing around the station in a grass skirt,” Kazuya answered back and giggled a little at the mental image. “What do you think I’m here for? You told me to come look for you.”

“I did? On what occasion?” Of course Pi remembered their little talk about Jin but he wasn’t going to let it be so easy for the boy. He would play along until Kazuya would stop beating around the bush and say it aloud. Their talk wouldn’t get anywhere if the boy wasn’t ready to talk about the past happenings clearly.

“You did, right in the middle of an investigation,” Kazuya sighed before he sat down in the only available chair. “Highly unprofessional of us both, I have to admit, but then again nothing concerning Akanishi seems to be professional... I’m here to talk about Ak-about Jin.”

“Oh, I see. Well, it’s good you finally got it, even if it required Jin saying it to your face. But to be fair, I can’t blame you for not noticing it. People tend to be blind for things they don’t expect or think as plausible. And considering your persona, having a male police officer falling for you isn’t the first thing you think of when they start acting weird.” Pi dropped the playful smile and looked serious. He wanted to have this talk with Kazuya and prevent him from unintentionally hurting Jin anymore.

“It’s not just the fact that it was improbable,” Kazuya started, “it’s more or less just the fact that I’m... emotionally handicapped. But I guess you picked up on that too?”

“Yep.” Pi observed Kazuya for a second with hard eyes before sighing. “What are you going to do?”

“Catch the killer,” Kazuya answered, no doubt or twinge of uncertainty in his voice.

“Tell me something new. What are you going to do with Jin?”

“That is what I’m going to do. Look, I came here to tell you that I’m not going to be able to do anything about Jin, I know nothing about him and you do. I didn’t know he slept around or that he usually came to work with kiss marks and hangovers. I know nothing about him. All I know is that I’m going to solve this case and then you’ll be rid of me... at least for a while.”

Kazuya felt like he was cutting an arm off, severing it from his nervous system and throwing it to the wolves.

“So you think that he drinks every night and takes girls home now because that’s what his usual life is like?” Pi asked cynically, raising an eyebrow. “And talking about one-night stands, he’s had only one after you left and you should’ve seen how broken he was after that. You don’t get it, Kamenashi. That’s how he acts when he’s depressed. He drowns himself in work and booze and to be honest, I don’t know how long he can keep this up before ending up in the hospital for lack of sleep and undernourishment.” 

No one could have missed the worry that was on Pi’s face now. The officer had never seen his best friend in a shape this bad during their years together and it scared him. He himself was exhausted by looking after Jin every night but he wouldn’t even dream of abandoning him now. He just hoped the period would pass before Jin’s body couldn’t take it anymore.

“It’s that bad?!” Kazuya exclaimed, feeling torn between regret and fear. What should he do? What could he do? Just when he thought that things could never get worse, reality knocked on the door and punched him in the face. Reality and apparently love.

“Yes, and I don’t want it to get any worse for Jin. That’s why I have a request. Please, stay away from him. He knows that you can’t ever love him back so seeing you would only tear him apart even more. I know you care for him and I want you to know that I don’t see you being at fault for this, but for Jin’s sake I want you to stay away and trust me, I’ll take care of him.”

Kazuya faltered for a moment, feeling like he was balancing on the top of a steep cliff, it was terryífying. The most terrifying part, however, was that he had no idea why he felt like that. He had no reason to disagree with Yamashita.

“Yeah, which was what I had planned to do either way... thanks for the talk, it was highly enlightening.” It was time to get back to Ryo’s car anyway and there was nothing more here for him to get. All the information he could need about the case was available to him anyway. He should stay out of everyone’s way.

“Good luck with the case,” Pi simply said and smiled tiredly. “Don’t worry about Jin, he’s the closest thing I have for a brother, I won’t let him get any worse.” Pi knew he should have thrown some witty comment to convince Kazuya that he was still the same old annoying officer but at the moment he was too tired and too worried. To be honest, he felt like every single person in the station was at the verge of a meltdown.

“I never worry”, Kazuya answered and exited Yamashita’s office. It was a lie though, he usually never worried but these days it seemed he could do nothing else than worrying.

-

“Why are you here?” Ooshima asked and suspiciously eyed Kazuya who had just marched into her office and laid down on her couch without a word.

“Why do you think I’m here? I’m lying on your comfy couch, you’re the expert at psychology, I’m the one with the problem, go figure.”

Ooshima sighed. “Well, what is the problem?” She took out a notebook. It was the first time Kazuya came to her because of his personal life so it must be something serious. Usually it was her chasing the boy around the university with a load of schoolwork to give. Kazuya, after all, wasn’t the most enthusiastic student when it came to attending the lectures.

“I’m the problem. Have you ever ended up in a situation where the only way to get through it is to remove yourself completely from the equation? I didn’t want to get involved in any of it, I just wanted to solve a case, catch a killer, put my resources to use and then maybe write you one of those papers you keep telling me to write. I don’t know, am I making any sense?”

Kazuya had seen people going to therapy countless times before, but it was a whole other thing being the patient himself. He was tired, beaten and the code kept twisting and turning before his eyes. He knew he wasn’t making any sense.

“You know Akanishi? The police officer who came to the dorm that day?”

That was the last piece of puzzle Ooshima needed to figure out what had driven the boy into such a desperate state. She wrote the name on her notebook and shifted her eyes back to Kazuya.

“So it’s him who got you so messed up. What did he do, ask you out?” Ooshima asked, half-joking but when seeing her student’s expression, the smile melted away.

“He did,” she stated instead of asking.

“No, not really, he... he confessed to me, well before that he avoided me like plague. And I might’ve had a panic attack too.” Kazuya blushed for the first time since Jin had last been teasing him. 

“Yeah, I’ve had this police officer calling me a couple of times. I can’t recall his name but he keeps repeating ‘marvellous’ to the point of me wanting to take a cab and go to the station to punch him. But anyway, I heard about the murderer contacting you from him and wondered how you would live through it. Did you have the panic attack after that?”

Kazuya nodded in agreement. “Yes, the night after it happened actually. It wasn’t that bad, not when Jin was there to take my mind off it.”

“How did he help you through it?”

“He hugged me and talked to me, I don’t know, stuff you do I guess. It’s just that... I think it was mostly just him being there that made me feel so safe,” Kazuya said. 

“How would you have felt if it was someone else who came to hold you that night?”

How would he have felt? What if Ueda had come? Or his mother? Hugging was out of the picture, no one had hugged him since he was ten years old and made it clear that there was no need at all to hug him anymore. It would be awkward, showing his sudden weakness, he wouldn’t have felt safe at all.

“It would’ve been completely different, I don’t think I would’ve liked it that much,” he finally answered.

“When you think about Akanishi, what are the things that you think of first? Just list whatever comes to your mind. Things he’s done, what he looks like, anything. Close your eyes and don’t think.” Ooshima held her pen, ready to write down every single word the boy would allow to come out. She had a strong suspicion of what Kazuya’s real problem was.

“Hmm, he’s taller than me, broader, stronger... He’s a bit slow sometimes, but very emotional and he has this amazing sense of morals and most importantly he has empathy. He’s a singer too, you know? Dreamed of making it big when he was a kid, but then something always happens, so he ended up being a police officer.” Kazuya relaxed and without knowing it a smile was spreading across his face.

“How do you feel when you’re with him? When he’s not avoiding you or acting weird that is.”

“I feel normal. I’ve never felt normal, not since I was really young and didn’t know better at least. I know I’m not normal, but he treated me like I was.”

“Why are you here, then? Go be in a happy relationship and live your life,” Ooshima said and locked eyes with Kazuya. Kazuya’s last answer had confirmed her theory and the last thing to do was to get Kazuya to overcome his biggest wall.

“Because I can’t. You know me, I’ve never been in love, I’ve never even thought about dating. However much I might want to answer his feelings I just wouldn’t be able to.” It hurt even worse as he said it out loud.

Ooshima gave him a stern look and glanced at her notebook, putting it on her desk with the pencil she had used. She then sighed and prepared herself to speak out her diagnosis.

”That is how you've taught yourself to think. I guess you have felt abnormal your whole life and it has scarred your emotions. You're not incapable of feeling love, you're incapable of recognizing that feeling since you have convinced yourself it's something you will never feel. It's your defence mechanism. You have lived your life without dealing with people and their emotions because it's easier for you and because you feel like you're different and can't adjust. By saying that you're emotionally limited you shield yourself from disappointments since you can't comprehend the thought that someone might actually see you for what you are and accept it, even grow to love it. But above all, you can't accept that maybe you feel the same way, too.” Ooshima fell silent and observed Kazuya with a tiny smile.

“What?” Kazuya asked as he sat up on the couch and corrected his glasses that had fallen down to the tip of his nose.

“Get out of here already, I need a nap,” Ooshima said with a twinkle in her eye.

-

The summer Kazuya was nine, Ueda didn’t go to a camp, nor did he stay in town to be with his friends. It was the last summer they had together, roaming in the gardens, climbing trees in the forest, fighting each other with wooden sticks pretending to be samurais. It was also a magical summer because Kazuya had by now given up on finding his Ookuwagata beetle and spent all his time with Ueda, catching him the most beautiful butterflies.

“It’s magical, can you see how it’s so perfectly blue? But the moment it closes its wings it’s grey and not really important at all?” young Ueda asked while jumping up and down in the wicker chair he was sitting in.

“It’s not magic Tat-chan, it’s called _Favonius Aurorinus_ , they look like that.”

“Sure it is. It’s just like you. Odd, small and really boring, but on the inside, you’re sparkling.”

-

After speaking to Ooshima it suddenly made sense. He had always thought that he was the same inside out, that he couldn’t love anyone back because he didn’t understand love. That however didn’t mean that he couldn’t fall in love anyway. And maybe he had.

Jin had said it himself, being anxious about meeting someone, blushing and stuttering. To those symptoms Kazuya could add that he felt safe with Jin, that he felt horrible without him, that his heart had screamed at him when Jin acted so coldly on the roof.

This wasn’t working, he needed to clear his head and get his thoughts in order. Kazuya stretched out on the guest bed at Ueda’s house and sighed. Another night without sleeping it was.

The beat of the streets stayed in the back of his head as he set a fast pace and started to run. He never ran while listening to music like people usually did because when he ran he wanted no disturbances between him and the ground he ran on. Thud after thud, the bending of his knees and the tension of his thighs, a slight twist of his neck as he kept an eye out for a car that was passing him. It was perfect this way, tiering his body out so completely that his brain had no choice but to tune out as well. After running for fifteen minutes, the code was gone and he couldn’t really remember anything about lectures or files. As daily things disappeared, he felt relaxed and sped up, leaving the quiet residential area behind him.

Jin. Just as he had gotten rid of the tiering code, Jin appeared. The way Jin smiled as he got teased by Kazuya, the way he stuttered cutely, the way he had pulled Kazuya up on his lap, pressing him tightly against his warm skin. Kazuya stopped right in the middle of a step, holding his hips as he leaned forward panting for air. Fuck. Was he in love? Had he fallen in love with a man, an older man at that and above all a criminal detective working above him on a case?

Why else would he feel like shit? He had met setbacks before, not managing to break the code wouldn’t do this to him. Seeing a man die shouldn’t take this long for him to recover from. Had he been lovesick all along, but just not getting it? 

He really had. He really was in love.

The reasonable thing to do right now would be to just forget all about it. Yamashita had made it clear that Jin was to be left alone. Kazuya couldn’t be sure that this feeling he had would last. But then again he couldn’t know if he didn't gamble a little. He felt like living a little.

For the first time while running he regretted not taking his wallet with him. He couldn’t take a cab now, and Jin lived at the other side of this city district. The only way he could get there was by his own two feet, so after he had managed to stand up straight again he started running.

-

“Well, we’re alone again, Condoriano,” Jin said to the pillow. He had picked up the habit of talking to it even when sober, for a reason he couldn’t tell himself. He was very aware of the fact that if Pi or anyone else saw him like that, babbling to a bunch of feathers, they would stuff him into a car and drive to the nearest mental hospital. He hugged the pillow and tried to smell Kazuya’s scent from under his own and the woman’s. Oh how he regretted ever taking her home. 

Kazuya hadn’t come to the station for ages and he hadn’t seen the boy since the incident on the rooftop. His confession was another thing he would regret for the rest of his life. Why did he confess when he knew that it would only make Kazuya’s life harder.

“I’m so selfish,” he said to Condoriano and buried his head to the pillow. A stream of tears started rolling down his cheek. He didn’t know what time it was, he didn’t bother looking at the alarm clock that would wake him up at 7am. When he wasn’t passed out, he spent his nights lying on his bed and crying until at some point falling to a light sleep for a few hours just to get up and work. When would he feel better?

The doorbell interrupted his one-sided conversation with the pillow. Slowly he lifted Condoriano off his face, seeing the wet spots on its surface as he dropped it on the floor. For a minute he battled with himself whether to go open the door or not but as the person on the other side rang the doorbell persistently, he got up with a sigh and headed to the hallway. It would probably be Pi since no one else ever visited him. Jin had no idea why his best friend wanted to drop by in the middle of the night.

When he opened the door, he froze. His first instinct was to slam the door shut and go back to bed and cry over his mind longing for Kazuya so bad he suddenly hallucinated him being on his doorstep. But he let it slide and instead stared at the boy with wide eyes.

After blinking a few times he accepted the fact that the boy wasn’t his own delusion but was really standing there out of breath. He thought of any logical reason possible but found none. Why did Kazuya look like he had just run a marathon? Was someone chasing him and he had come here just because he had nowhere else to run? Was the murderer after him?

With a swift move he grabbed the boy’s arm and dragged him in, slamming the door shut behind him. Kazuya was still too out of breath to speak.

“Are you alright? Who’s chasing you? I’ll call the station immediately, a police patrol will be here soon, just stay there,” Jin said with a panicked voice and took a step back, silently trying to remember where he had left his cellphone.

Kazuya grabbed Jin’s arm and shook his head, trying to get his attention as he managed to slow his breath a little, forcing air down his lungs. “Jin,” he hissed through his strained throat and shook the arm he had gotten a hold on. “Jin, I’m... not being chased.”

“Oh... Okay.” Jin just now remembered that there were still tears on his cheeks. He wiped them away as sneakily as possible as he stood there dumbfounded, trying to think of another reason for the boy to suddenly appear on his doorstep. After a moment so long Kazuya had managed to calm his breathing he suddenly realized the reason. His eyes widened in realization

“How much do you need? I don’t think there’s that much in my wallet but wait a little, I’ll go check.” Jin made an attempt to shake the boy’s hand off and escape to the living room. He felt his self-restraint starting to falter for being face to face with the boy after a long time of doing nothing but missing him.

“Where are you going?” Kazuya asked while walking after him inside the apartment, “Jin put that away I’m not here for money, can you please just listen to me?”

Jin stopped his shaking hands that were hastily counting his ten yen coins and confusedly put the wallet on the table before doubtfully raising his head to look at Kazuya. He felt his eyes moisten again and mentally cursed himself. He was such a weakling, he couldn’t even lay his eyes on the boy without feeling overpowered by his forbidden emotions.

“Jin... I... Oh to hell with it!” Kazuya cursed as he looked up into Jin’s big eyes. He looked like he had been crying for hours and Kazuya knew he was the reason. Before he could chicken out he threw himself at Jin, locking his arms tight around Jin’s waist.

Jin stiffened and fought back the urge to circle his arms around the boy and hug away all the sorrow he had felt after Kazuya had left. There was something behind this, had to be, there was no way Kazuya would voluntarily run here to hug him, not after he had blurted out his feelings for the boy. He forced himself to back out of Kazuya’s grip and locked his big, sad eyes with the boy’s.

“Did Pi set you up for this? Is this some kind of prank?” Jin asked and tried to cover his hurt feelings by laughing lightly, as if it didn’t matter to him at all.

“No, Jin no. I would never do that... I just needed to come here because I-” Kazuya’s voice broke a little and he had a hard time hearing his own thoughts over the constant drumming of his heart, racing faster now than when he had been running.

“I came here to tell you that I think, no I’m actually pretty sure, dead certain, that I like you too,” Kazuya declared, not sure where to look as the embarrassment of him confessing his feelings like that set in. “That I might’ve fallen for you too.” He took a step forward and dared to grasp Jin’s hand, hanging aimlessly at his side.

Jin stood there motionlessly, letting the words sink in. He felt Kazuya take his hand but he was too stunned to do anything besides trying to comprehend what the boy had just said. Finally he blinked and swallowed, holding back his urges for a final confirmation,making sure that he hadn’t misunderstood the situation.

“You’ve fallen for me?” His eyes were filled with hope and exploding happiness, craving to be unleashed by Kazuya’s answer.

Without hesitation, Kazuya nodded and answered with the biggest smile Jin had ever seen on him. “I have, stupid.”

Jin answered the grip Kazuya had on his hand and finally let his feelings explode. He grabbed Kazuya’s arm with his other hand and yanked him to his embrace, circling his arm around the boy’s waist while sliding the other hand to his hair. He took in Kazuya’s scent and smiled with tears in his eyes. He held on to the boy as tightly as he possibly could, not intending to let him vanish from his arms ever again. He sniffled and nuzzled Kazuya’s hair, enjoying the moment he thought would never come.

It was a completely new experience for Kazuya, being held that way, feeling Jin’s heart race in the same pace as his against his chest. He didn’t even care about the fact that he was soaked after running the whole way to Jin’s apartment, he just enjoyed being there with him. This was something he had thought was unattainable, so it was with extra care that he memorized this moment, wanting to remember it forever. Remember how close he was to Jin, how he could almost taste his skin against his lips. Kazuya leaned his head even closer and without planning to do so he placed feather light kisses on Jin’s skin where his jaw became neck. It felt so amazingly right.

Jin stayed still for a moment, his lips trembling with anticipation as he felt Kazuya planting tiny kisses on his neck. He swallowed and mumbled the next words against the boy’s hair.

“Can I kiss you?” His voice was filled with doubt and Jin silently waited for an answer, fearing that Kazuya would realize what they were doing and step away.

Kazuya couldn’t help but to smile as Jin asked for his permission, sounding so very anxious. Like he hadn’t kissed him before. The taste of Jin was intoxicating and Kazuya once again decided to act out his heart’s desires. He had to stretch and stand on his toes, but it felt just right that way. A little nervously, Kazuya placed his lips against Jin’s and let one of his hands wander up Jin’s back. It felt like magic.

Jin was hesitant at first and he kept his hands timidly still as Kazuya leaned upwards and kissed him. His heart felt like it would give out, the rapid beating mixed with the feeling of Kazuya’s lips on his blurring everything around him. He suddenly felt like a nervous teenager again.

That was until Kazuya slid a hand up his back, a motion that sent shivers down his spine. The nervousness stepped aside as passion and love took over and he pressed his lips fully against Kazuya’s, putting everything he was feeling into the kiss.

A surge of never before felt emotions started at the tip of his toes and swelled out over Kazuya’s body as Jin kissed him back, every movement filled with raw emotion. It was nothing like that drunken kiss all those weeks ago. This wasn’t a clingy and lazy caterpillar, it was a swarm of fluttering butterflies.

Finally, after what they both felt like was a small eternity, Jin withdrew a little and chuckled against Kazuya’s lips, smiling like a fool as he leaned his forehead on the boy’s, one of his hands locked into Kazuya’s hair while the other grasped the fabric of his shirt by the waist.

“What is it that’s funny?” Kazuya asked while playing with the hair in Jin’s ponytail.

“I was wrong. I like your kissing better than Pi’s.”

“So you’re thinking about Yamashita now? I guess it’s because I smell like sweat too right now,” Kazuya answered back with feigned dejection. Enjoying how his lips brushed against Jin’s as he spoke.

“Oh shut up you, you have no idea how badly I’ve craved for this and thought it would never happen,” Jin whispered in between the quick kisses he gave to Kazuya.

“About a few weeks at the most, I’ve waited a lifetime to fall in love,” Kazuya retorted and kissed Jin back.

“Uh-huh,” Jin managed to say before kissing Kazuya like mad again.

“Jin,” Kazuya mumbled while trying to catch his breath, “could I borrow your shower for a few minutes?”

Jin withdrew and looked at Kazuya, his eyes suddenly uncertain. “You’ll come back after showering, right?” he asked and tightened his grip on the boy’s shirt.

“Are you going to go all suspicious on me and guard the door?” Kazuya asked and chuckled, “Jin I won't crawl out of the bathroom window, we’re six storeys up, it’d kill me. Well at least severely handicap me.”

“Yeah,” Jin said and smiled a little. He retreated and went to the bedroom cabinet, taking out a towel and a clean set of clothing, handing them to the boy who had followed him. “I hope the clothes won’t be too big. Be quick.” He kissed Kazuya’s forehead.

Kazuya just smiled even wider and waved a little as he locked the door behind him in the bathroom, feeling like his cheeks might actually get stuck this way if he smiled any more. He didn’t even think about codes and huge stacks of files as he stepped into the shower. He thought about blue winged butterflies and the silliest one of Jin’s hair ties, the one in hot pink.

Jin threw himself on his bed with a wide smile just to spring back up again. He hadn’t changed his sheets after bringing that woman home and it was evident in the way the sheets smelled like perfume. Jin rushed back to the bedroom cabinet and took out a set of clean sheets and switched them with the ones in his bed in record time.

After sitting on the edge of his bed in satisfaction he noticed the pillow he had dropped on the floor before Kazuya had arrived. He picked it up and smelled it, breathing in the tiny remains of Kazuya’s scent buried under the smell of perfume.

“Can you believe it?” Jin asked and laughed. “Me neither. I would have never, ever dared to hope that this would happen. I won’t cry on you anymore, Condoriano,” Jin declared happily. He didn’t notice that the shower had stopped running and when Kazuya spoke up from the doorway, he nearly stumbled down from the bed.

“Have I lost my mind completely, or are you talking to that pillow?” Kazuya asked with a raised eyebrow, eyes twinkling with teasing.

Jin blushed and pondered what to do before finally confessing with a miserable voice. “Yeah. I began talking to it when drunk and before I noticed it, I was already babbling to it when sober as well. It smells like you.”

Kazuya pulled on the sleeve of the far too big T-shirt so it wouldn’t slide down his shoulder and walked up to Jin. He studied the pillow curiously before leaning down to it.

“Jin it smells like perfume... I don’t smell like that,” he said in confusion.

“I could smell you under that perfume,” Jin said and sighed. “Did you hear about the woman?” he asked nervously. He didn’t want to bring it up but if he intended to build a strong base to whatever there was going to be between them, he needed to confess whatever he had on his chest.

“Hmm,” Kazuya pondered and pulled a little aimlessly at the corner of the pillow Jin was holding in his arms. “Yamashita told me, well Ryo brought it up so I decided to... You know,“ Kazuya sighed and shook his head, “I’m going to come clean. I talked with Yamashita about you that day on the crime scene after I had found the flashlight. He told me that when I realized why you were acting so cold to me I should let him know. So, I thought that I should talk to him... when I heard that you were having kiss marks on you and stuff. I think I might have been a tad jealous.”

Jin stared at Kazuya’s hand that was fiddling the pillow. Even though in theory he had nothing to apologize for, he did anyway. “I’m sorry. I was really messed up after I confessed and got dead drunk and I... I guess I just needed to forget you for a night. But after I woke up, it only felt worse.”

“I-can we talk about something else? Right now we’re wallowing again, we’re good at that, aren’t we?” Kazuya asked timidly and let his hand fall from the pillow so he could hold on to Jin’s shirt instead.

“Yeah,” Jin said and let out a tiny smile. “I guess I’ll change Condoriano’s pillowcase so we can go to bed without thinking about unpleasant things.” He got up and took out a clean pillowcase from his cabinet and put it on the pillow after removing the old, perfume-smelling one. He turned to Kazuya, threw the pillow somewhere on the bed and grinned.

“Where were we?” he asked and without waiting for an answer tackled Kazuya to the bed and hugged him tight against his chest.

The force Jin used to throw him against the bed surprised Kazuya at first, before he remembered that day at the first crime scene when Jin had tackled him to the ground. He could hardly hold back his laughter as he gave his answer. “We were in the living room, silly.”

“My mistake,” Jin said and pecked Kazuya’s cheek before rolling to the side in order to dive under the blanket. He opened his arms to Kazuya in an inviting manner. “Come here so I can cuddle you,” he said and pouted.

At first Kazuya started crawling over towards Jin without hesitation, but then it hit him, he had no idea what Jin was planning to do. He tried to remember how dating usually happened, because they were dating now, weren’t they? It didn’t matter anyway because he couldn’t remember a thing about relationships right now. Kazuya panicked and froze, hiding his face behind his bangs as he tried to come up with how to find out what was expected of him.

Jin frowned and sat up. What had suddenly gotten to the boy? Had he done something wrong? Had Kazuya suddenly started to regret this? It was with much uncertainty when he spoke up.

“Kazuya? Is something wrong? Did I do something?” He blurted out the last words with a fearful tone, scared that he had messed everything up without realizing it.

“No, it’s nothing, it’s just... you know that I’ve never done... THAT before right?” Kazuya said nervously. It was a whole new experience for him once more, feeling insecure when he usually was everything but.

Jin realized what the other was talking about and sighed gently, sitting up properly so he was leaning against the headboard of his bed. He took a hold of Kazuya’s hand and as gently as possible pulled him to his lap in a familiar way.

“Now you’ll listen to me, dummy. As long as you’re not ready, I don’t want to, either. I would never even dream about pressuring you to do it and I don’t want you to think that you have some kind of responsibility to do it with me. Don’t force yourself to do things you’re not comfortable with, I’ll give you however much time you need. I can clearly see you’re not ready for it so my plan for tonight is just to snuggle the living hell out of you,” Jin finished with a tender smile and kissed Kazuya’s temple calmingly.

“Oh,” Kazuya whispered and buried his head in the crook of Jin’s neck. “I’m a bit too big to sit here really comfortably you know,” he added.

“Is that so?” Jin said teasingly. “Well maybe you should come here under the blanket with me so I can cuddle you instead?”

Kazuya poked Jin in the stomach and found it really hard to be anything but full of smiles and laughs now. When Jin scooted back under the cover Kazuya followed him and ended up half on top of him, not so very much unlike the way Jin had held him that morning they woke up together for the first time. Which reminded Kazuya that he owed Jin an explanation about something.

“I didn’t run here to confess on a whim, I’ve been moving towards that point for a few days now. I didn’t know I was, but I was. I told you that I hadn’t been in love so you know all that and I didn’t say it out of spite or anything. You see, Ooshima explained it all to me this morning, I hadn’t been in love because I was so sure of the fact that I couldn’t ever fall in love. I’m so used with being different, everything about me reminds me of that constantly, so...” he fell quiet for a moment, pondering how he could explain it without it sounding even more complicated than it really was.

“Don’t think it’s just an experimental thing, okay? I couldn’t deny how that first kiss made me feel even if my life depended on it.”

“I’m glad,” Jin said and smiled. “But you’re really stupid you know, falling for an idiot like me of all people.” He kissed Kazuya’s forehead to show that he was anything but sorry about it. “You sure startled me, running here like that. I seriously thought the murderer was after you,” Jin chuckled.

“I’m sorry.” Kazuya blushed again and lifted his head so he could kiss the other, slowly and shyly.

Jin closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. His arms pressed Kazuya more firmly against his chest as he kissed the boy with all the gentleness he felt. “I’m sorry for behaving like a total ass, ignoring and avoiding you,” he finally said after they had separated and laid lazily for a while in silence.

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the last ‘I’m sorry’ for tonight,” Kazuya joked and started kissing Jin with demanding lips, feeling really brave as he playfully bit Jin’s plump lower lip.

Jin answered the kiss happily and stroked Kazuya’s neck and back. The other’s warmth made him feel comfy and safe. First time since Kazuya had left the apartment he actually felt like sleeping in his bed. Jin smiled and moved his lips to Kazuya’s cheek, kissing it before drawing back.

“You know, as tempting as it seems to keep kissing for a while longer, I think we should sleep a little.” He nuzzled Kazuya’s neck and turned to his side so that they were lying side to side, arms and legs still tightly tangled together.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Kazuya exclaimed and bit his lip in anger. “I’ve got a presentation to do tomorrow in class... I’ll just have to wing it. It’s your job to make sure that I get up tomorrow,” Kazuya added with a firm voice.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jin murmured as he clung to Kazuya, already half-asleep.

Jin looked more peaceful than he had done in over a week, the hard lines between his eyes were nearly gone now. Kazuya felt like he had managed to pick the best puppy of the bunch.

“Good night Jin,” he whispered as he too, drifted off into his dreams.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	8. Blue Desires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate) (a.k.a. Rika).
> 
> Sorry for the way, I got held up by work and uni, all at once of course 😪 Anyway, I'll try to upload a couple of chapters today so that you guys can have something to feast on while I go wack my head against a wall this coming school week. Have fun! Here comes the eighth chapter 😁
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _April 12th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 8 - Blue Desires**

.

Jin sighed in content and opened an eye. His alarm hadn't gone off yet and he had probably gained only a few hours of sleep but he still didn't feel the least bit tired when he remembered what had happened last night. A warm smile spread on his features as he fully opened his eyes to find Kazuya with his gaze.

They had shifted positions while sleeping, Jin somehow ending up pressed against Kazuya's neck, head resting on his arm. The officer nuzzled the other's skin and blew away strands of the other man's hair that were tickling his face. He listened to the other's steady breath and chuckled. Kazuya looked absolutely adorable when sleeping.

Jin went through last night's events in his head. It all had happened so fast. Jin couldn't help but smile at the way he had evolved from a heartbroken drunkard into a shamelessly happy lovefool in less than an hour. It was too good to be true.

The last thought made Jin freeze and rewind the happenings once again. Maybe it was too good to be true? Kazuya had shown no interest whatsoever until last night, coming to his apartment out of nowhere to confess. He remembered that the boy had told him he hadn’t done it on a whim and he knew he should trust the other's words. But despite that he was unable to stop the uncomfortable feeling of insecurity. What if Kazuya would wake up and shove him away, saying that it was all just a mistake?

No, Jin tried to reassure himself, Kazuya wouldn't do that. He had told Jin he had fallen in love.

But what if the boy's rational side, the one Jin was almost too familiar with, would kick in and he would think it over, deciding that he didn't want Jin after all? The officer bit his lip thoughtfully. That was right, he shouldn't get his hopes too high. This was something completely new for Kazuya, Jin ought to be ready for some setbacks.

The boy had many things to comprehend right now and Jin suddenly realized that waking up with him could be the last straw and startle Kazuya. He knew Kazuya wanted to take it easy and Jin had to give him the opportunity for some independent thinking after waking up instead of seeing his affectionate and expectant face first thing in the morning. The officer wriggled loose from Kazuya's grip and snuck out of the bedroom after gently stroking the boy's hair.

-

A loud repetitive noise cut right through Kazuya’s sleep, he grabbed a pillow trying to shut the noise out, but then he remembered why the alarm was set in the first place. With a grumble and a few wobbly moves, he reached out and grabbed the alarm clock, barely avoiding sending it to the floor. His head felt heavy but his stomach felt featherly light, it was like he had been sleeping in the sun or under a warm blanket. But as he reached out to find the source of the cozy heat he found an empty bed. Raised up by his elbows, Kazuya took a look at Jin’s bedroom with puffy eyes, he hadn’t gotten much sleep lately and it had taken a toll on his eyesight. Jin was nowhere to be seen.

Strange, Kazuya thought to himself and dropped his heavy head back down on the pillow. A fragmented memory of Jin talking to a pillow flashed past him and he momentarily wondered if it was that very pillow. Probably not. It brought a smile to his lips though, a smile that matched the fuzzy feeling that had started to spread from his stomach to his chest. Where was Jin anyway?

It took a very long breath and a few determined pep talks with himself before he hoisted his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, running his fingers through his messy hair. Right, he had showered the night before, right after... Kazuya blushed and was on his way to hide his face in his hands when he heard a sound from somewhere in the apartment. That was enough to get his legs to work and he stumbled out through the living room towards the kitchen, sleepily holding his far too big T-shirt up, that threatened to slide down one shoulder, by one of the sleeves.

Jin was sitting at the small table that he somehow had managed to fit in the tiny kitchen, cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette hanging lazily from his lips. He looked absolutely amazing like that, sleep still evident in his face, deeply lost in his own thoughts. Kazuya hummed a silent “hi” and tried to smile through a yawn as Jin turned his head and caught a sight of him.

Jin took the cigarette between his fingers and brought it to the ashtray, leaving it leaning on the edge. He smiled insecurely and nervously let his gaze meet Kazuya’s.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

Kazuya just nodded and stifled yet another yawn before he stretched his neck slightly. “You? Did I kick you in my sleep or something? You were gone when I woke up,” he asked, voice raspy and low.

“No, you didn’t,” Jin hurried to say before lowering his gaze and taking the cigarette again, rolling it in his fingers. “I just thought that you might change your mind,” he muttered almost inaudibly and raised the cigarette to hurriedly take a deep inhale from it and force a cheerful laugh to cover the silence. “It’s alright if you have a change of heart, really.” Jin tried to smile and meet Kazuya’s eyes again but the nervousness prevented him from doing anything besides raising the cigarette to his lips once again.

“Really? It’d be okay? You wouldn’t be at least a little sorry I did?” Kazuya asked and smiled wryly. “You’re being silly again.”

Kazuya walked over to Jin and leaned in, “and those aren’t good for you,” he whispered and plucked the cigarette right out of Jin’s grip, putting it out in the ashtray.

Jin let Kazuya take the cigarette without objections and circled his arms around the boy’s tiny waist, burying his head to his collarbone. “You didn’t change your mind, right?” he asked against Kazuya’s shirt, tightening his grasp like a little kid afraid of losing his mother in the mall.

“No, I didn’t change my mind,” Kazuya answered and hugged Jin back, “but I might if I get stuck writing yet another paper I won't have time to finish if I don’t get to school in time. What time is it?”

“A little past seven,” Jin answered and drew back a little to give Kazuya a simple kiss. “I always liked good morning kisses,” he said and chuckled, looking a whole lot more cheerful than just a moment ago.

“I think I could get used to them,” Kazuya said, just about to pull Jin to his feet when he heard his phone angrily buzzing away against a hard surface in the apartment. “Shit, I forgot about Tat-chan”, he cursed and slid out of Jin’s grip to search for the source for the annoying buzz.

“Where the hell are you?!” Ueda shouted into his ear as soon as he answered the phone, it had been forgotten in his pants pocket, lying in a pile against the tiled bathroom floor.

“It’s okay, I went out for a run and ended up at a friend's place. I'll be back before school starts to get some clothes,” Kazuya explained, trying to sound as assertive as possible at this early hour.

“Are you mad?! Out running? There’s a killer on the loose that has contacted you personally and you’re out running in the middle of the night? How on earth did you get past our alarm?!” Ueda shouted back, even more furious than before. “Ryo nearly scared the shit out of me when he went to wake you up and came back saying that you weren’t in your bed!”

“I just entered the code, sorry Tat-chan, but it’s not that hard figuring it out... I should’ve told you, but, anyway, I’m safe and I’ll be back in a few hours, then Ryo can drive me to school like always.”

“You’re gonna give me an ulcer if you keep this up, mister! Where are you anyway? You don’t have any friends,” Ueda complained, Kazuya could almost see him sitting down in relief, holding a hand against his troubled stomach.

“I have, I just haven’t babbled about them,” Kazuya answered, hoping that he’d get away with his feigned annoyance.

“Just get your ass back here. I’ll start a nationwide search if Ryo hasn’t called and told me that you’re home before nine o’clock,” Ueda sighed.

“Sure, thanks, I’ll make sure I am.” Kazuya smiled into the phone and ended the call.

“I could’ve driven you to school.” Jin had suddenly appeared behind Kazuya with a pouting expression.

“And I can hold a presentation wearing your old sweatpants and a three sizes too large T-shirt,” Kazuya joked and held out the edges of the shirt to point out how ridiculous it’d look. “Besides, Ueda will kill you and me and Ryo if I call again and try to wriggle myself out of his grip.”

“Those clothes look fabulous on you,” Jin teased and stuck out his tongue before pulling Kazuya to his embrace. “I’ll drive you to the nearest train station, then,” he added determinedly.

“My usual response would be ‘there’s no need for that’, but I think I’m too tired to argue,” Kazuya answered and leaned into Jin’s hug. “Can we just stay like this for a while, I might be able to sleep a few minutes,” he added and took a deep breath of the smell so completely Jin. Familiar feeling of safety making his brain wind down and senses cloud in a way that would have scared him to death a week ago. Now it felt like pure bliss.

Jin closed his eyes and pressed his face to Kazuya’s hair, staying still for a minute just enjoying the feeling of the other in his arms. Picking up the remains of his self-confidence he retreated briefly before sliding his hand to Kazuya’s chin to gently lift it up and gain eye-contact with the other. Jin observed Kazuya’s features for a while with a timid smile before leaning down to kiss him lightly, testing the waters.

Kazuya absentmindedly noted that it still felt just as good being kissed by Jin, before he wrapped his arms around Jin’s neck and tried to find more of that warmth that was coming from Jin. Daringly kissing him back.

Jin concluded it was okay with Kazuya not to hold back so he let go of Kazuya’s chin just to slide the hand to the boy’s neck and play with the strands of hair he found there. His other hand was holding Kazuya briefly above the hip. Jin gained courage and turned his head slightly to deepen the kiss, gently nibbling Kazuya’s lower lip before pushing fully against him.

The warmth turned into heat and Kazuya found himself out of breath, still wanting more. When they broke apart he smiled a little drunkenly and leaned on to Jin.

“I think you need to wake up now, love.” Jin murmured and pecked Kazuya’s forehead before letting go and going to the kitchen. “Coffee?”

“I don’t drink coffee, slows my brain down, remember?” Kazuya chuckled and walked after Jin, “but I can take some juice if you have some.”

“Kid,” Jin said and stuck out his tongue.

“Brute,” Kazuya answered back, but with a huge smile. He could tell that this was going to be a good day.

-

“What now?” Ooshima asked and rolled her eyes as she saw Kazuya stepping into the empty classroom she was just about to step out of. “If you need a listening ear then how about you stop being so damn stubborn and jump into that officer’s arms already.”

“I’m not that stubborn!” Kazuya hissed back, but had a hard time keeping the look of annoyance. “And your advice is useless now that I talked it out with him yesterday,” he continued with that huge smile that just kept creeping back to his face.

“I know nothing more annoying than young lovebirds,” Ooshima sighed to herself before shoving the books she was carrying to Kazuya. “Carry these to my office for me,” she ordered and started to walk towards the room Kazuya had dashed into just a day earlier.

“Why do you bring all these with you to your lectures?” Kazuya asked from behind the pile of books, “isn’t this MY book?”

“Might be,” Ooshima said and shrugged. “I don’t really keep count on which books are mine and which are yours.”

“I find it amusing that you rely on me for books when YOU’RE the sought after professor and I’m the poor impoverished student.”

“And you rely on me for love advice even though I’m the old hag that’s forever single and you’re the energetic young man who everyone has a crush on.” Ooshima opened the door to her office and marched in without bothering to keep the door open for Kazuya.

“Hey! I’m carrying yo- my books for you here!” he complained and pushed the door open with his foot. “It’s not like I come running after you everytime something happens anyway.”

“Stop whining and tell me what you want,” Ooshima said, totally ignoring Kazuya’s last remark. She sat down by her desk and crossed her legs expectantly.

Kazuya put the books down on her desk and sat down on her couch once more like the day before.

“I just need some pointers on how I’m supposed to do this whole relationship thing. You know I’m lost” he said, almost a mumble towards the end. “He left bed this morning before I woke up, I’m not sure if he’s just overly anxious or not that keen on it. He’s a man, I’m a man, wouldn’t he be a bit worried about his self image?”

“What happened after you woke up? Did he reject you?” Ooshima had taken the notebook out once again with a sigh.

“No, not at all, he looked nervous. Said that he was afraid I had changed my mind.”

“You of all people should understand what it was about. He was preparing himself for a disappointment and tried to make it as painless as possible by getting up. He probably didn’t want to take the risk of getting dumped while snuggling you happily. Or am I wrong?” Ooshima raised an eyebrow.

“Oh,” Kazuya said in realization, “that makes sense.”

“Yeah. And about you both being men... He would’ve freaked out already if he was the type. I assume you’ve been physically together as lovers already,” Ooshima eyed Kazuya questioningly.

“I think you’ll have to elaborate on the physical part...” Kazuya said and had to look away from her.

“Have you had sex?” Ooshima asked calmly without blinking or showing any signs of embarrassment even though she had just asked such a personal question.

Kazuya made a choking sound at her question and sat up straight, “should we have? I’m so fucked aren’t I? I really have no idea about these things,” he said while burying his face in his palms.

“No,” Ooshima said simply. “Listen now, kiddo. You’re stressing too much. There’s no such thing as rules for relationships. As long as you both enjoy yourselves and care about each other’s well-being, there’s nothing else you must do in order to be a ‘real’ couple. Genders don’t matter as long as you’re both okay with it and if you don’t want to have sex, then don’t. As simple as that.”

He pondered on it for a moment before his big smile crawled back and he felt calm again. “So for now I’m doing alright?” he asked happily.

“Well judging from your expression, yes.” Ooshima smiled sneakily. “You know, my therapy sessions are not free...”

Ooshima’s comment made Kazuya raise one of his eyebrows and cross his arms, “out with it, what do you want? Some more books, the key to my dorm room?”

“You’ll invite me to a bar and buy me a beer. And bring that lousy boyfriend of yours with you,” Ooshima announced and without waiting for Kazuya’s answer walked to her door and opened it. “Now, shoo, I’ve got work to do. You’ll pick me up at eight from the school.”

-

”Good afternoon, Pi!” Jin said cheerfully when passing the other in the hallway. He was in a good mood, the morning with Kazuya and the fact that he had managed to steal a goodbye kiss from the boy in his car before he had gotten off to go to the train station not being the smallest of the reasons. Jin smiled and ruffled Pi's hair before making an attempt to go to his office.

Pi squinted his eyes in confusion and as Jin tried to pass him, grabbed his wrist and trapped him against the hallway wall. Something was off.

”Hey, you already stole one kiss, if you want to continue, find another guy!” Jin said and started to struggle.

”As if I'd want to do that,” Pi said and rolled his eyes before raising one of his hands to Jin's eye, forcing the eyelids apart to observe the other's pupils.

”Are you on something?” he asked with a frown as he noted that Jin's eyes were perfectly normal.

”No! Why would I be?” Jin asked, getting irritated as he shoved Pi off.

”Because it's the only reasonable explanation I can think of when I see you suddenly acting like the sun itself.”

Jin couldn’t suppress a grin. ”Think of the most improbable explanation.”

”Horikita performed energy healing on you with Taguchi and it actually worked?”

Jin shook his head.

”Ando gave you a raise and gave up his position to Koyuki?”

”Even more improbable,” Jin pressed on and snickered.

Pi thought for a while before his eyes widened. ”He didn't?”

”Did too!” Jin exclaimed and clung to Pi.

”What? How?” Pi asked, feeling a little tingle of worry forming in his mind. They had talked the day before yesterday and then Kazuya had been all up for leaving Jin be. Why did the boy suddenly decide he had feelings for Pi's best friend after all?

”He came to my apartment running last night and confessed,” Jin explained with sparkling eyes as he drew back from the hug. Pi cleared his throat, voicing the next question as carefully as possible.

”Are you sure he wasn't drunk?”

Jin observed Pi for a moment so long the other thought he had actually hit a nerve. But instead of punching his best friend, Jin burst out laughing.

”He wasn't. He still wanted to be with me in the morning.”

Pi scratched his head. He hadn't seen this coming at all. Of course he was happy to see Jin in such a glad state and he didn't suspect that Kazuya was trying to toy with Jin's feelings or deceive him. He just feared that the boy didn't take confessing seriously enough and in the end Jin would get hurt again after committing too much for Kazuya to follow. Nevertheless, he needed to have a chat with Kazuya.

Pi was just about to open his mouth and ask for Kazuya’s phone number when Jin felt his cell phone vibrating against his thigh in his pocket. He fished it out with and when seeing the sender ID, grinned to Pi. “Speaking of the devil!” he said cheerfully.

_From kame1582_  
_To: chyeah_jin_

_I’m just wondering if you might be up for going to the bar with me tonight?_ 🍺✨

 _P.S. We need to pick Ooshima up at university at eight. Sorry..._ 😅

“If he’s going to take an avec with him, I’ll come too,” Pi announced as he read the e-mail behind Jin’s back.

“Well, you’ll distract Ooshima then so I can spend time with Kazuya,” Jin said and chuckled.

“Ooshima? Who is he?”

“She. Kame’s psychology professor. She’s hot, you’ll like her,” Jin lied and tried not to laugh.

“Well, if Koyuki’s not coming I guess I could keep her company.”

_From: chyeah_jin_  
_To: kame1582_

_Coming. Pi will come, too, he insisted to be my avec. I told him how hot Ooshima is and he promised to keep her company so we can spend some time alone, LOL!_

_I’ll pick you up from Ueda’s at 7:30. Miss you already~_

Jin smiled like a fool and ignored the gagging noises Pi let out, signalling that he thought Jin was being overly cheesy.

“You’ll end up wrapped around his little finger, mark my words,” Jin’s best friend muttered.

_From kame1582_  
_To: chyeah_jin_

_Great!! I’ll see you later then. Btw, stop lying to your colleagues_ 😜

“Lying? What does he mean?” Pi asked but Jin merely waved his hand.

“Nothing at all,” he said and walked away, smiling widely.

-

“Now I know what that brat meant by you lying,” Pi muttered and took a large sip of his beer. His face had darkened the second he saw Ooshima but he didn’t dare to speak his mind before Kazuya had gone to buy drinks with her.

“Cheer up. She’s a hot, mature woman,” Jin teased and nudged his friend with his elbow.

“Easy for you to say, you have the more beautiful one out of those two,” Pi said and huffed.

Jin stuck out his tongue. “Don’t let Kazuya hear that or he’ll kick your ass.”

As soon as Kazuya and Ooshima came back, Jin slid his hand under the table and searched the boy’s, who was sitting next to him, squeezing it gently while keeping his poker face and sipping his beer.

“I told him not to lie to you,” Kazuya said, aimed at Pi, and shifted closer to Jin.

“Lie about what?” Ooshima asked and eyed Jin suspiciously.

“Nothing at all,” Jin said, biting his lip in order to control the laughter he wanted to let out. Ooshima narrowed her eyes.

“I didn’t remember you seemed so stupid. You’re a terrible liar.”

Pi burst out a laugh. “Isn’t he? He’s a moron!”

“I wouldn’t be so happy if I were you. You were the one fooled by the moron after all, or did I misunderstand the situation?” Ooshima said with raised eyebrows.

Now it was Jin’s turn to laugh. “You should’ve seen your face!”

Pi glanced at Jin furiously before smirking. “Shut up you drag-queen kisser.”

“You shut up, loser who can’t win against a five-year-old!”

“You both shut up, I’m getting a headache,” Ooshima snapped.

Kazuya had leaned back and was watching their quarrel with amusement. This wasn’t a crime scene, or the police station, so when Jin and Yamashita made fools out of themselves he could just enjoy the show. He noticed that he loved the way Jin’s voice got a higher pitch the longer he bickered and how his grip tightened a little around Kazuya’s hand, pulling it over to rest on Jin’s thigh. Ooshima, however, didn’t look as amused as he was.

Just when Kazuya was about to tell them both that it’s a bad idea to get on Ooshima’s bad side, a shadow fell over Jin’s face and he turned to find out what he was looking at.

“Hi... Jin was it? I just thought I’d say hi,” the long-haired woman said with a cute smile.

Jin looked at the woman in confusion. He didn’t recognize her at all. He thought over every occasion he had met women and when finally coming to the conclusion, his eyes widened. He glanced at Pi briefly for a confirmation and when seeing him nod, felt like hitting his own head to the wall.

“Oh, hi. I’m sorry, I already forgot your name,” Jin said, ashamed. He didn’t forget the name, he hadn’t asked it in the first place. He looked at Kazuya insecurely. This wasn’t exactly the best situation to meet a one-night stand again.

“Kuriyama Chiaki, though everybody calls me just Chiaki. It’s nice to see that you’re smiling again, you got me a tiny bit worried there,” she answered and shifted her eyes to Kazuya, noticing Jin’s side glances towards him. “So, Johnny Depp, huh?” she asked Jin.

“No, the other,” Jin mumbled and blushed. “But yeah, I’m alright now. Thanks for worrying. And sorry for... That all. I don’t usually do things like that.” Jin didn’t want to talk about the matter but his conscience kept screaming at him, telling that he had done wrong by bringing the woman home, even if they had both been both drunk and wanted it.

Chiaki laughed, not at all troubled by the subject. “We had fun though, so what’s there to apologize for?” she asked and blinked mischievously at Jin.

“W-we did?” Jin stuttered. He wanted the earth to swallow him. He looked at Kazuya once again, trying to figure out what the other was thinking. Well, regardless of that, he knew what was the right thing to do.

“Anyways, as I said, he’s not Johnny Depp but the other guy I mentioned. So I’m afraid we won’t get to have fun together again,” he said and laughed nervously. Ooshima raised her eyebrows, observing the situation in silence but paying attention to everything that was going on. Pi drank his beer and kept his gaze strictly on his hands.

“Sure, sure, I gathered as much. Take good care of him,” she said, looking at Kazuya and waved at Jin as she turned and walked away from their table.

Kazuya stared at her back for a moment before he realized that Jin’s grip around his hand had gotten loose, so he squeezed Jin’s hand in search for some reaction.

“Yeah, she... Yeah. I think you guessed it,” Jin mumbled miserably, not answering the grip Kazuya had on his hand. How could he be so stupid? He had regretted taking her home the moment he had opened his eyes the morning after that but at that moment he wished nothing more than that he could erase it all.

With a smile, Kazuya bumped into Jin’s shoulder with his own and tried to come up with something proper to say. He wasn’t really bothered by her or what Jin had done with her. Ooshima cleared her throat and saved him from his futile search after the right thing to say.

“I need to talk to you,” Ooshima announced and got up, taking a firm grip of Jin’s hand. “Excuse us,” she said half-heartedly to Kazuya and Pi before dragging Jin with him to the bar counter.

Pi watched after them for a second and sighed, finishing his drink with one long draught.

“Well, this works just fine, I’ve been meaning to have a chat with you as well,” he said to Kazuya and glanced at him almost grimly.

“Oh? What about?” Kazuya most certainly knew what Yamashita was about to say, but he figured that it’d be wiser if he let the other do it the way he had planned.

“How come you dash into Jin’s place in the middle of the night, declaring your feelings for him when only two days backwards you weren’t even worried about him when he was slowly killing himself?” Pi attacked, not bothering to be subtle any longer.

The worries and the feelings of guilt that Ooshima had successfully quenched earlier that day immediately resurfaced and Kazuya took his glasses off, rubbing his sleep deprived eyes. How was he supposed to explain himself out of this situation? Yamashita was Jin’s best friend and he would probably get killed by him if he didn’t come up with something the other could relate to. But how should he do that? Yamashita was normal and Kazuya wasn’t, there wasn’t any relating to be had.

“I know that it was mindless and uncalled for, but I just needed to do this for myself... and I was worried about him, I wouldn’t have talked with you otherwise.”

Pi huffed, a tiny hint of compassion in his eyes. “I don’t think you’re a bad guy. And I don’t deny your feelings, I just don’t want you to take Jin’s too lightly. He deserves to be with you. If your feelings are deep enough for this to last, that is. I don’t want to see Jin end up getting his heart broken because you can’t do this after all. So what I want to do is to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. Jin is clingy and needy, not the easiest guy to deal with in a relationship.”

“I think I’ve noticed a little,” Kazuya answered and smiled to himself, “and I have thought it through. It’s always a bit of a gamble I guess, but I really wanted this, even though I hadn’t figured it out last time we spoke.”

“Well, I guess it’s alright,” Pi said, smiling a little at how honest Kazuya sounded. “I don’t want you to feel pressured, I’m just worried about my best pal. Take care of him or I’ll make you suffer,” he said half-jokingly but seriously enough for Kazuya to hear the hint of threat in the undertones of his voice.

“Yes sir, I will,” Kazuya answered, raising his glass. Yamashita was older, his superior and Jin’s best friend. He wanted to stay on his good side.

-

”So, what is it?” Jin asked grimly as Ooshima had walked him to the bar counter and ordered two tequila shots. Every second he spent away from Kazuya felt like a waste of time since he knew that with the boy going to school and living at Ueda's they wouldn't have many opportunities to meet.

”Shut up and drink,” Ooshima ordered and downed the shot. Jin sighed and did as told. ”I can't see how Kazuya respects you so much,” he said, the alcohol finally taking away some of his restraint.

”Careful there, boy. Don't insult the person who got Kamenashi to realize his feelings for you in the first place,” Ooshima said matter-of-factly and ordered two more shots.

”What do you like about my star student?” she finally asked bluntly after drinking both of the shots in a row.

Jin was caught off guard. He pondered for a second before blushing and ordering two shots to catch up with Ooshima. ”His persona. The way he's so rational and mature at times and knows so much. He's so smart. But then at times I can see the hidden child in him, the one he never got to fully be. And when he's emotional, he's just so cute I can't stay away. He's usually so strong and calm. I felt so special when he let me be there for him at the moment of his weakness. At that time, I thought that he could be just as weak as he wanted to if only I could be the person who he lets take care of him.” Jin fell silent and blushed. He had ended up babbling. Ooshima observed him with stern eyes before smiling a little.

”You might not be as bad of a guy after all. But I warn you. Kamenashi has lived his whole life alone, fearing social contacts. If you by any means will be the reason he loses his trust in close relationships for good, I'll come and crush your nuts with my biggest book. 1200 pages of weight down there, imagine that when you feel like hurting him. Clear?”

”Yes, ma'am,” Jin answered instinctively, watching Ooshima with wide eyes. The woman's straightforward way of saying what she had to say had startled him. Jin ordered three shots and gobbled them down just to have Ooshima following his example.

”So...” Ooshima slurred after drinking the shots and staying silent for a while. ”A policeman, eh?” Jin relaxed at the way the professor went to the regular areas in their conversation.

”In your service, ma'am,” Jin answered with a wobbling voice and giggled. Damn, he had forgotten how strong tequila was.

”A weed like you can't keep criminals in order!” Ooshima was getting very drunk as well as she laughed mockingly.

”I can and I do!” Jin said stubbornly and crossed his arms just to unfold them quickly to take support from the counter after swaying dangerously.

”Oh yeah? What do policemen have to do in order to stay in shape?”

”I work out a lot,” Jin said. Well, to be honest he hadn't gone to the gym at the station too often after meeting Kazuya. But before that he went almost every day and it would count.

”You do? To be honest, you don't look like it,” Ooshima mocked and took a hold of a beer she had ordered just seconds ago. She drank half of it without much effort.

”I can lift heavy weights!” Jin said and took Ooshima's drink just to finish it, not intending to lose this match and be the target of her mockery for the rest of the night.

”Oh yeah? I bet you couldn't even lift me!” Ooshima slurred, not noticing that her drink had mysteriously vanished from the glass down Jin's throat.

”With all respect, ma'am, lifting you would be a difficult task for anyone considering your rather meaty figure. But I could do that,” Jin said. Ooshima hit him in the head, punishing him for the unflattering words about her body.

”Well, since I'll never get married anyway I could take you up on that offer. Carry me bridal style back to the table, then!”

”Yes ma'am, but don't scream,” Jin said before hooking his arms around Ooshima's knees and waist and lifting her up, instantly starting to huff.

”Heavy,” he puffed and started to make his way back to the table with much effort. Ooshima giggled almost girlishly and threw her head back, waving at the people they passed on the way and enjoying the weird gazes they got.

“We’re back!” she announced cheerfully when they arrived back at their table. Pi’s eyes widened as he saw his best friend carrying the woman.

“Where did you catch a tuna that big?” he blurted out without thinking. He didn’t even want to start to ponder about the possible scenarios leading to Jin carrying Kame’s professor around bridal style.

“Respect your elders, kid,” Ooshima said and got seated after Jin had let her down. The officer sat on his chair and slumped his head on Kazuya’s shoulder.

“She’s heavy,” he whined out of breath and nuzzled his head against Kazuya, not bothering to hide the fact he was drunk.

Kazuya couldn’t help but to laugh and let Jin put his weight on him. “You should’ve thought about that before you agreed to carry her idiot.”

“She mocked my strength!” Jin defended himself and circled his arms around Kazuya’s waist. “I’m tired.”

“How did you manage to get dead drunk so quickly Jin?” Kazuya whined back but answered Jin’s hug. “Maybe I should take you home... and call Ueda,” he added.

“I drank some tequila!” Jin announced happily, enlightened by Kazuya’s warm behavior towards him. “6 shots of tequila and you would get anyone intoxicated,” he continued with a lower voice, pecking Kazuya’s cheek.

“That settles it, I won’t ever leave you alone in a bar again,” Kazuya announced and smiled apologetically towards Ooshima. “I think it might be a good idea to take this idiot home before he’s too out of it to even move.”

“Sure thing. You then, take me home!” Ooshima eyed Pi commandingly. Pi was lost in confusion for a second before finding a way out.

“I’ve drunk, I can’t drive.”

“Then order a taxi and give me money,” she answered calmly.

“Ha? Why should I pay for your taxi?” Pi was getting irritated, Jin could see. Well, Pi wasn’t really the type one could just order around.

“Because I’ll give you my phone number if you do.”

“Why in the hell would I want your phone number?!”

“I’ll tell you after you’ve given me money. You will probably need it,” Ooshima simply said and held her hand out expectantly.

Pi looked at both Jin and Kazuya helplessly before sighing and taking out his wallet. “Now, what do I need your number for?” he asked after giving the money to Ooshima.

“I’ll tell after these two leave. Shoo, you lovebirds! Kamenashi, take your clingy boyfriend home. I’ve had enough of him for a night.”

Kazuya hooked his arm around Jin and pulled them both to their feet, “I won’t see you tomorrow though, I’ve filled up my quota for school-going this week,” he declared and kept Jin steady as they walked out of the bar, leaving Ooshima and a confused Pi behind.

“Where’s your car keys Jin?” Kazuya asked as they reached the parking lot behind the bar.

“Kids can’t drive, let me!” Jin slurred and wobbled dangerously, trying to stand on his own.

“For the umpteenth time, I’m NOT a kid!” Kazuya lectured and started searching through Jin’s pockets, “I’ll have you know that I’ve had my driver’s license for quite some time now.”

“You better not get us killed then. Or I’ll find you in heaven and let you have some of my fury,” Jin answered and held out the keys, letting himself slump fully against Kazuya.

-

Jin was heavy, maybe just as heavy as Ooshima, and it took Kazuya quite some time getting them out of the elevator and across the long hallway to Jin’s apartment. It took him an even longer time to locate Jin’s keys and that while Jin was constantly chuckling drunkenly in his ear.

“Can’t we get in already,” Jin whined and started planting kisses on Kazuya’s cheek and chin. He didn’t mind being this close to Kazuya of course, but he could imagine a ton of more pleasant circumstances to do so.

“If you’d told me where your key was we’d be inside already,” Kazuya said irritatedly as he managed to get the door open and kicked his boots off before he locked the door behind them.

Jin took his own shoes off with much effort before finally straightening up to face Kazuya and grinning. He approached the boy and grabbed him by his hips, bringing his face close.

“Finally alone,” he said before kissing Kazuya and starting to push him backwards, his lips never leaving the other’s but instead getting more and more demanding by the second.

The intensity shocked Kazuya at first, but he stopped thinking when his back hit a wall and Jin had him pinned against it.

Jin got more impatient and he turned his head sideways before pushing his tongue in Kazuya’s mouth. The rationality left him in a heartbeat as he grasped the boy’s hips firmly and pressed his body against his.

Kazuya welcomed the heat and even though it was unfamiliar waters he didn’t feel intimidated by Jin. He chuckled as they started to stumble towards Jin’s bedroom and landed on the bed.

Jin broke the kiss just to move his mouth to Kazuya’s cheek, kissing it briefly before going down and kissing his neck heatedly, every once in a while creating a path of kisses up to his ear to bite on his earlobe and kiss the sensitive area around it. He nibbled and licked the skin occasionally, lost in his passion and craving for Kazuya.

Even though he just seconds ago had felt completely fine with kissing Jin, something prickly and small started to form in Kazuya’s stomach. It grew every time he felt like letting out a moan. Jin was far too lost in his own desires to notice that Kazuya had gone almost completely still underneath him. Maybe if he calmed down it would disappear before Jin realized what was going on. Kazuya drew in a deep breath and tried to focus on Jin’s mouth and hands. Hands that slowly moved their way under Kazuya’s shirt and started traveling up across his stomach. The prickly feeling unfurled and before Kazuya knew it he had pushed Jin off him and down on the floor, his heart beating like he had run a marathon.

“Ow! What was that for?” Jin whined and stumbled up painstakingly, pouting with an accusing expression. He didn’t get what he had done wrong, he had just wanted to take advantage of his last moments by kissing Kazuya before passing out snuggling his boyfriend. Jin was too drunk to realize that the other boy was startled by the possible intentions Jin had but made the conclusion that Kazuya simply didn’t want him close.

“Jin, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to push you-”

“It’s alright, I get the message,” Jin said with a deeply hurt voice. He felt sad and angry as he grabbed his favourite pillow. “I’m going to the couch with Condoriano, he at least tolerates me close,” he announced pompously and marched out of the bedroom. “Right, Condy? Just you and me, like always,” he babbled to the pillow tenderly, so caught in the sweet talk that he accidentally hit the door frame. Letting out a silent curse he continued to the living room, not even glancing at Kazuya.

That night, Kazuya couldn’t sleep one second.

-

When Jin opened his eyes the next morning he instantly noted that his head felt like it would explode any minute. He groaned unhappily and rolled onto his back just to fall down off the tiny couch with a loud thump.

”Fuck!” Jin cursed and remained on the floor, too tired to get up. Slowly he started to catch up with the situation and wonder. Why was he on a couch again? He spotted Condoriano on the couch and the memories from last night rushed quickly back into his consciousness.

He had gotten too excited, Kazuya had pushed him off and he had angrily gone to sleep on the couch. How stupid was he exactly? In his sober state he had no issues understanding why Kazuya had freaked out. His intentions hadn't been to get into the boy's pants, not at all, but the way he had sucked his neck and caressed him under his shirt were undeniably actions easily misunderstood.

”I'm such an idiot,” Jin said miserably to the pillow. Kazuya had kindly driven him home and helped him to his flat and even agreed to spend the night and what had Jin done? Made him sleep alone in the bed while leaving himself, insulted by something that was solely his own fault. ”Way to start a relationship,” Jin congratulated himself.

Jin stumbled up and grabbed Condoriano before tiptoeing to the bedroom. He had no other option but to hope Kazuya would forgive him. He stopped by the doorframe and took a shaky breath. He saw the boy's head peeking out from under the blanket. Kazuya had curled up and his breathing was steady. He looked lonely and Jin instantly felt like hitting himself with something heavy.

Jin walked to the bed and hesitantly laid down beside the boy, spooning him from behind. He carefully caressed Kazuya's hair and pressed his forehead against his shoulder.

”I'm sorry,” he whispered, half-hoping the boy wouldn't wake up by his actions.

Kazuya, however, wasn’t asleep at all. He had heard Jin falling off the couch and how he moments later came back to the bedroom. As he didn’t know what to do, he decided on acting like he was sleeping after all and lay completely still when Jin crawled up on the bed. But Jin apologizing for something that wasn’t his fault, made him react out of reflex. Before he knew it he had turned around, hugging Jin tight.

Jin was surprised by Kazuya’s actions but circled his arms around him nevertheless, hugging him just as firmly and planting kisses on his hair and forehead.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know what got into me... I didn’t mean to startle you and I shouldn’t have left, I’m sorry,” Jin mumbled miserably.

“And I definitely shouldn’t have pushed you...” Kazuya started but let his voice trail off as he caught a glimpse of Jin’s face through his messy black hair. “Jin you’ve got a bruise on your eyebrow!”

“I do?” Jin raised his hand to try his face just to wince as his fingertips brushed over his right eyebrow. “I guess it came when I crashed into the doorframe.” Jin noticed Kazuya’s worried expression and hurried to smile. “Don’t worry, I deserved it.”

“Oh... I thought that it was because I pushed you,” Kazuya answered and shifted closer so he could take a better look at the slightly swollen bruise.

“As if you could push me that hard,” Jin said teasingly and kissed Kazuya’s nose. He put his hand on the boy’s cheek and looked at him, his expression once again apologizing. “I’m sorry for last night, really.”

“It’s not something to apologize for, I acted silly and you were drunk, let's just forget about it,” Kazuya answered and hoped that maybe his words would suffice in convincing Jin.

“You weren’t silly, you did the right thing. If I get too excited and you feel uneasy I want you to tell me. Okay?” Jin said gently, sounding serious.

Kazuya looked away and sighed a little to himself before once again hugging Jin, “I’ll try.”

“No, I want you to promise me you’ll tell me if you don’t like something I do. I don’t want to pressure or hurt you,” Jin said, gazing at Kazuya sadly and retreating to lock his eyes with him.

“It’s just that it’s really new for me to be in this situation at all, I don’t like being this vulnerable,” Kazuya explained.

“Kazuya,” Jin said firmly. “I don’t want you to neglect your feelings and try to be strong. I can’t truly enjoy myself, either, if I feel like you’re acting. I fell for you, every side of you, not just the confident university student who wipes floors with me when it comes to intelligence,” Jin was now smiling. “I want to also know your weaknesses, not only your strengths, so I can be there for you when you need me. I don’t want to be one of the people you hide your sensitivity from.”

“That- wow,” was the only thing Kazuya managed to say before he hid his face in the sheets. What had he ever done to deserve someone like Jin?

“I’m not that smart, I haven’t really achieved much at all lately.”

“Oh don’t even try to go there, mister,” Jin said, grinning, before rolling over to pin Kazuya under him. “Without you we wouldn’t know the priest's identity, we wouldn’t have found the third victim and the husband of that one lady would still be free,” he said and tickled Kazuya’s sides. “You’re one hell of a smartass kid,” he teased while tickling.

Kazuya tried to escape Jin’s hands but he was caught underneath him, laughing away the bad feelings of last night.

“And you should really stop calling me kid, what are you? A pedophile?” Kazuya said, proving to Jin he really was a smartass.

“Oh? Are you going to call Ueda and tell him how you’re being harassed by a pedophile?” Jin asked and planted kisses on Kazuya’s face and neck teasingly. “All you have to do is say ‘get off me you pervert’ and I’ll back off,” he murmured in between the kisses.

“No,” Kazuya pouted and tried to kiss Jin too, “I’m just warning you about how it looks from an outsider’s point of view.”

“As if I’d give up someone as amazing as you because of some gossip queens,” Jin said before finally kissing Kazuya. “I would give up everything I have if it was the price of having you,” he whispered against the boy’s lips.

Kazuya froze, staring back up at Jin who was looking at him so lovingly it made him a bit scared, “thanks, for accepting me,” he finally answered shyly.

“Sorry, I turn a bit into a creep when I’m in love,” Jin said, a bit embarrassed by his earlier words. “Am I making you anxious? Should I get off?” he asked worriedly, drawing back a little.

Instead of answering, Kazuya circled his arms around Jin’s neck and pulled him downwards until he could reach his lips. He kissed him almost coyly first, before daring to deepen the kiss. It amazed him how he never had felt like doing this before, but with Jin he found himself wanting to all the time.

Jin answered the kiss, tenderly at first but as Kazuya got more courage, he let the passion take over. His lips got more demanding whereas his hands held the boy lovingly. His other palm was caressing Kazuya’s waist while the other grabbed the boy’s hand, entangling their fingers before he dared to shift his head slightly and push his tongue into Kazuya’s mouth, a content moan leaving his lips.

As Jin took control over the kiss, Kazuya could let his head fall back against the sheets and enjoyed feeling Jin’s muscles tense on his back as he followed Jin’s spine towards the small of his back. This time he couldn’t stop a small noise of content from leaving his lips.

Jin enjoyed the taste of Kazuya’s mouth as his tongue explored it with increasing eagerness. He retreated a little just to bite on Kazuya’s lip playfully before pressing his lips fully against the other’s again, this time not wasting any time with sneaking his tongue in the boy’s mouth to catch his. His touches got more passionate as well, his hand letting go of Kazuya’s just to brush his fingertips sensually over the boy’s palm and on his wrist. His other hand went down a little to massage Kazuya’s hip bone with his thumb.

Wherever Jin touched him he felt goosebumps forming, not unpleasant ones, just the opposite. Kazuya didn’t even feel embarrassed anymore when he moaned into Jin’s mouth and got a hold around Jin’s waist, making sure he wouldn’t escape again.

Jin didn’t feel like drawing back but to avoid the re-enactment of the events of the previous night he gathered the remains of his composure and broke the kiss. He kissed Kazuya’s cheek on the way to his ear. “I think we should get up,” he mumbled and sighed unhappily.

“You know, your timing is awful,” Kazuya joked and rubbed his tired eyes.

“Oh, still tired?” Jin teased as he got up and eyed Kazuya on the bed. An ominous smirk appeared on his features and before Kazuya had time to realize what had happened, Jin had caught him in his arms to lift him up bridal style.

“You weigh far less than Ooshima,” Jin remarked with a grin before starting to carry the boy into the kitchen.

Too tired to argue much, Kazuya just put one arm around Jin’s neck and laughed, “and you don’t, it was quite troublesome to drag you up here from the car.”

“I’m heavy because I’m muscular,” Jin defended himself before stealing the umpteenth kiss that morning from the boy in his arms.

-

It probably should feel odd, being back in Jin’s office again after weeks, but instead it felt like he had never left it in the first place. Jin still stacked files ridiculously high on his desk and Kazuya couldn’t help but to smile at it as he opened the file of the priest and the gutted woman, picking out photos from the crime scene.

There should be something there, something to connect them, the lack of connection was mind boggling. The killer hadn’t killed in a similar way, hadn’t picked similar victims and there was nothing that spoke about who the killer himself was, other than just very self-confident. Correcting his glasses, Kazuya leaned forward in the well-worn couch before closing the files again and standing up.

He was just about to put the files back in their places on Jin’s desk when two strong arms circled him from behind.

“Jiiin,” he let out feeling annoyed. Kazuya, if anyone, should be able to keep the line between work and personal issues apart. He expected nothing but professionalism from himself.

“It’s already lunch break, it’s not working hours,” Jin protested with a pout and planted kisses on Kazuya’s neck and shoulder. He couldn’t help it, he had a really hard time keeping his hands off when Kazuya was no further than a yard away.

“But we’re _at_ the station!” Kazuya continued, not completely giving in to Jin’s cute and begging voice.

“Fine, I’ll let go. If I can treat you to some dinner tonight,” Jin said stubbornly. It was one of the things he had wanted to do for a long time, to take Kazuya out on a date. Without his best friend and Kazuya’s chubby professor getting in the way that was.

“Okay, okay, just let go of me,” Kazuya answered hurriedly, “I mean, I’d love to have dinner with you.”

“I already reserved a table. You’ll like the place,” Jin said in satisfaction and pecked Kazuya’s cheek before letting go and walking to the door. “I’m gonna fetch some lunch, what would you like?”

Kazuya hummed happily when thinking of food, it felt like he hadn’t eaten properly since Jin had snapped at him on that roof. But then again, food slowed his mind down.

“See if they have some salad or just some apples,” he told Jin after giving it some thought.

“You and your super light diet, no wonder you’re so tiny,” Jin muttered before walking out.

Taking advantage of the minutes alone in the office, Kazuya took his phone out to first check if someone had entered something new about the case in the station's database, which no one had, and then to write a short mail to Ueda. His cousin had already started to suspect that Kazuya was up to more trouble, so he struggled for a while finding the right words, before he settled for telling him the same story as before. He was going to a friends place and they were going to watch a baseball game.

“Uhm, Kamenashi-san?” a gentle female voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Ah, Kato, good morning,” he answered, not even bothering to look up so he could confirm who the visitor was. He wanted to avoid being chased around the town by Ueda for lying poorly to him, therefore he kept typing on his phone.

“Koyuki,” the secretary corrected instantly. “I hate my last name, it sounds medieval.” She laughed lightly before clearing her throat. “Is Akanishi any better? He seems more energetic nowadays. I got worried when he told me about his drinking habits, I hope he hasn’t been keeping them up.”

“There sure seems to be something wrong with his alcohol consumption,” Kazuya muttered to himself before giving up on completing the mail now that Ando’s secretary didn’t seem the least keen on leaving.

“Sorry, what did you say that you wanted?” he asked, playing dumb. He wasn’t feeling like discussing Jin with people he didn’t know.

“Nothing at all,” Koyuki said and blushed. “I shouldn’t have asked, I’ll discuss it with him directly. Oh, right,” she said and delved into her bag. “I was going through the mail and there was a letter to Kamenashi-san sent here,” she said and handed the letter to Kazuya, not looking him in the eyes in order to cover her blush. “Sorry for asking unnecessary questions, have a good day,” she hurriedly said before bowing and quickly walking out, bumping into Jin in the doorway.

“Wow, Koyuki, what’s up?” Jin asked and laughed, taking a hold of her shoulders.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you,” Koyuki said and tried to hurry past the man. Jin frowned and didn’t let the woman go.

“What’s the matter? Did that brat there startle you?” Jin raised his eyebrows.

“No, not at all,” she said and laughed lightly while blushing. “I just delivered a letter to him and I’m in a hurry. Ando threatened to spank me if I took more than an hour on the task,” she said and sighed, looking anxious.

Kazuya snorted from the corner of the couch where he had retreated with the letter in one hand, furiously typing away at his phone once more. His mail to Ueda proved almost an impossible task to complete and Koyuki’s sob story didn’t amuse him the least. Everybody knew that Ando was a creep and if she just had spoken up about it to the management he was sure something could be done about the man. He rolled his eyes and started concentrating on the letter instead.

“That disgusting creep,” Jin said darkly before letting go of Koyuki. “Tell me if he’s being too troublesome and I’ll have a little chat with him.” The woman smiled awkwardly before bowing and walking off.

“Someday I swear I’m going to beat that guy up,” Jin mumbled in fury and slumped down beside Kazuya.

“You should let her have the chance to feel that same anger. Stop making it easier for her or she’ll never build some spine,” Kazuya muttered back and stared at the postal stamp on the envelope. Stamped yesterday in the Tokyo city postcentral. Who sent letters nowadays anyway?

“You think it’s easy for her being constantly harassed? And I’m her friend, do you expect me to just stand aside? Not everyone can stand up against their superiors like me and you,” Jin said grimly.

“Then you better brace yourself for doing it for a long time, because when Matsumoto reaches the post of prime minister he’s aiming at then Ando will most certainly become police chief if no one speaks up about his antics.” Kazuya felt a bit irritated by the way Jin leaned closer and by the fact that there wasn’t any sender written on the envelope he was eyeing.

“What’s that letter anyway? Do I have a rival?” Jin asked, changing the subject and making his voice teasing.

Instead of humoring Jin, Kazuya just held the envelope up to his nose, trying to detect if he could smell something that would tell him what it was all about. He couldn’t remember telling anyone except Ooshima about him working with the police, so who had sent him a letter there?

“Give me that knife you’ve got in your boot,” he ordered Jin and held out an expecting hand.

“If it’s from a rival, I want to see you burn it,” Jin stated before bending down and giving the knife to Kazuya.

“It’s not from a rival, I’m pretty convinced that this letter is from our killer,” Kazuya voiced out his suspicions and it made even more sense when he heard it out loud.

“I wonder what’s in there... Every letter in here goes through safety inspections so nothing harmful. Maybe another code?” Jin asked, suddenly alert and ready to cover Kazuya’s eyes in case there was something disturbing, such as pictures of the next victim being tortured.

Not bothering with answering Jin, Kazuya started cutting the side of the envelope open, avoiding getting anywhere near the glued opening, then bending to his side in order to get a pair of gloves out of his pocket. After putting them on he let the piece of paper hidden in the envelope slide out.

“Oh, of course!” He almost shouted as he let his eyes wander over the single piece of paper he held in his hand, “I should’ve seen it!”

“Seen what?” Jin asked as he leaned closer to see what Kazuya was holding. It wasn’t a gruesome photo but a receipt.

“The code is seats at the baseball station! This is the receipt to one of those seats in the code,” Kazuya explained with a wide grin. “Here, look at this, every zero before a number indicates that the next number is a letter, so 0104 052 78 067 04562 becomes A04, E278, F67 and D562,” he continued while showing Jin the code on his phone.

“How about the last numbers?” Jin asked, pointing at the “8452” that seemed to have nothing to do with the seats.

“I... I don’t know, that part doesn’t make any sense, but it doesn’t matter anyway because there’s just a few hours to the match that the receipt is for. I should go there right now,” Kazuya reasoned and got up so he could put his jacket on, already set on going to the stadium.

“Wow wow, wait there,” Jin hurried up to take a hold of Kazuya’s shoulders. “There’s no way I’ll let you there into his trap. I’ll go with some of my men, you stay here,” he said determinedly.

“No, Jin I want to go there too, I have earned it right?” Kazuya’s assertive air had been replaced with big eyes and a begging stare.

Jin battled with himself for some time, feeling his determination vanish by Kazuya’s puppy eyes. Finally he groaned and hugged the boy. “Damn you, you sneaky little...” he mumbled to his neck. “But I’m coming to your seat with you.” Jin’s tone revealed that that condition couldn’t be compromised.

“Jiiiin!” Kazuya once again whined but jumped happily at the thought of maybe getting a chance to decrease the distance between them and the killer.

“That’s final. If you’re unhappy, you can always try convincing Ueda, Ryo or Pi into letting you there alone,” Jin said smugly, knowing he had already won.

“You’re evil, but I forgive you,” Kazuya answered and was immediately lost in his thoughts about the stadium and the position of the seats in question.

-

The others had already gotten inside the stadium, flashing a police badge could evidently gain you access almost everywhere, but Kazuya was still outside since he had to retrieve his ticket from a ticket office. Jin was close by but never so close that he lost the overview of the long line of people. After twenty minutes, Kazuya managed to reach the small hatch in the wall and could exchange the receipt he had gotten in the mail to a ticket booked under his name. He guessed that he should feel threatened by the fact that the killer had used his name, but by now it just increased the joy of the game.

Kazuya entered the stadium and got his ticket inspected, and Jin followed, flashing his badge and getting deep bows from the ticket controllers. He was just about to stop and catch a few words with Jin when he felt that familiar humming vibration in his pocket and he knew that he had gotten a mail.

“Jin,” Kazuya said to get his attention.

“Yeah?” Jin asked, absent-mindedly keeping his hand on Kazuya’s shoulder.

“I think I need to go to the bathroom first,” Kazuya announced, smiling a bit at the contrast between the serious situation and his silly request.

“Oh, okay,” Jin said and followed Kazuya to the toilets nearby. “Be quick,” he said as Kazuya went in and left him standing outside.

Kazuya went straight to the booths and locked the door behind him, fishing up his phone and hurrying to read the e-mail.

_The D-area has amazing seats, wouldn’t you agree? Especially without cops breathing down one’s neck. Luckily you’ve got some numbers left to use._

It seemed that the killer wanted him to take that special seat, that he was supposed to be alone and he had also been given means to fool Jin into leaving him alone at it. This was getting immensely personal, even for Kazuya’s standards.

The dubiety he felt over tricking Jin just in order to get a bit closer to the killer was lost the moment he and Jin moved closer to the seat and Kazuya could feel the tension in the air. This was as exciting as it could get. The others were placed at the rest of the seats pointed out in the code and Jin kept watch from the stairs right next to seat D 562.

His opportunities to get rid of Jin in time for the game to start was getting smaller by the second and after taking a few calming breaths, Kazuya waved at Jin to come over.

Jin stumbled to Kazuya over the audience’s knees, ignoring the annoyed looks.

“What is it?” he asked and squatted at Kazuya’s feet.

“I figured that last part out, it’s the seat in the A-area, where Ryo and that young looking officer are!” Kazuya announced, trying to sound as excited as possible.

“Really?” Jin delved out his walkie-talkie, trying to reach Ryo just when there was a homerun and everyone started yelling.

“Shit, I can’t use this,” he cursed and pondered for a second before kissing Kazuya so quickly no one noticed it. “I’ll go inform them to keep their eyes open. Don’t leave this seat meanwhile, okay?” he half-yelled to Kazuya’s ear over the roaring of the audience.

“Go!” Kazuya encouraged him, “I’ll stay!”

“I’ll be right back!” Jin yelled before taking off to the A-area through the wider paths in between the rows.

Kazuya had just enough time to sink back in his seat before he felt his phone vibrate once more and a second mail arrived. Still, like the times before, seemingly just manifesting themselves in his inbox.

_Good match? Did you see the home run?_

Kazuya felt tension build up again as a third e-mail arrived closely followed by a fourth.

_You were too busy fooling that cop, too bad..._

_Your seat isn’t as good as I made it out to be either, that guy next to you is a bit porky. Are you feeling cramped?_

At this comment Kazuya raised an eyebrow in annoyance, the killer obviously wanted to let him know that he was somewhere watching him, not just following the game on Tv.

_I find it almost insulting that you didn’t solve my little riddle before I gave you that clue. But you came here like a good turtle, so now I’m gonna give you another clue._

_Go to the lockers at the entrance level, beside locker E82 in the A section you will find a waste bin, there you will find the key. Now go and be a good turtle._

Kazuya got up on his feet almost before he had read the whole mail and started running towards the lockers. As promised by the killer, he found the key taped to the side of the waste bin and in the small and battered locker he found a piece of paper with yet another code. He sighed and deduced that he was looking at several hours of trying to break it. So it wasn’t with light steps that he left the stadium, taking the train back to his dorm. He felt exhausted by never catching up.

-

“Where the fuck are you?! Are you alright?!” Jin shouted as soon as Kazuya picked up the phone, sounding feverish and worried out of his mind.

“I’m alright, calm down, I got another code so I’m on my way to my dorm. I just forgot to tell anyone I left...” Kazuya admitted, he felt horrible for worrying Jin.

“WHAT?! How on Earth did you get another code?” Jin didn’t calm down but his voice reached another level of loudness instead.

“The killer sent me a mail telling me to got to a locker and inside it there was a piece of paper with the code on it.” Kazuya tried to avoid falling over as the subway train halted at a stop.

“Let me get this straight. You fooled me into taking off so you could have a little chit-chat with a fucking serial murderer and dash off ALONE when he commands you to go to a locker with God knows what inside? And after that you just walk off without informing anyone?” Jin was now sounding furious.

“I’m really sorry, okay? I’ll explain everything later, but I have to get off the train now,” Kazuya answered.

“I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE YOU!” Jin yelled and hung up without another word.

Kazuya felt worse for every step he took towards the campus, but he had a job to do, he couldn’t get emotional when there were human lives at stake. At least that was what he was telling himself as he sat shivering but sweating in front of his computers minutes later, typing the code into an ordinary word processor, just so he could look at it properly.

This time there were no zeros indicating letters, no hidden morse code to write an address with. He didn’t know why but it felt just as urgent as with their third victim, it felt like someone’s life depended on him solving it. So he straightened his glasses and started his code deciphering program on one screen while trying out different combinations himself on another. In order to gain access to the facts about the previous killings, he also accessed the police database he had hacked into over a month ago and started browsing through the photographs from the scene.

After half an hour he was almost ready to give up when he noticed that one part of the code was, with some modifications, linear with the code they had found at the crime scene of the gutted woman. It took him a few minutes more, but in the end he had managed to free an URL from the mess of numbers and typed it into his browser, anxiously waiting for it to load.

_So close, but yet so far away._

Kazuya stared at the words, they didn’t make any sense at all, hadn’t he just cracked the code? How come he still was far away? Far away from the killer? He kicked a huge book about medicine which he had stacked some newspapers on and growled in annoyance. At that very moment he heard someone banging against his door.

“Kamenashi Kazuya, you had better open this door RIGHT NOW before I pick the lock!” Jin yelled furiously. He had driven to the dorm after smoking half a pack of cigarettes and kicking the tires of his car angrily without succeeding in calming down. Actually, during the ride his anger had grown and grown until he was at the point of exploding.

“I’m coming!” Kazuya shouted back from the other side of the door and struggled a little with the locks before opening it.

Jin didn’t wait until the door was fully open before pushing in forcefully and slamming the door shut with a deafening noise.

“What the FUCK did you think you were doing?!” he hissed, glaring at Kazuya.

“I-I thought that I might be saving someone’s life,” Kazuya answered, not daring to look at the other.

“Saving someone’s life by cooperating with the murderer and letting him lure you into going off alone? Do you even get what could have happened if he had felt like killing you off? Yeah, you would be FUCKING DEAD now! This isn’t one of your computer games where you get another chance after fucking up,” Jin exploded and kicked the shut door with all his might.

Kazuya flinched at Jin’s anger, but daringly tried to catch Jin’s arm in order to calm down. “I know that I put myself into danger, I know that the killer could get tired of our little game at any moment, but sometimes one just has to take a chance.”

Jin dodged Kazuya’s attempt of grabbing his arm and started walking towards his bedroom. “The code had better be worth the risk,” he said angrily and kicked the slightly open bedroom door open just to freeze on the spot.

Somehow magically the database of the homicide department was opened in two of the many computer screens in the room. As far as Jin knew, no one had given the boy the access code and after pondering for a while his face went pale and he started to tremble with anger. If one didn’t have the access code, there was only one way of opening the site, a very, very illegal way at that.

“Kamenashi,” he started, purposely using Kazuya’s last name. “Tell me again, how did you get to know about the dead priest and the sprayed code all those weeks ago?”

“I didn’t tell you...” Kazuya answered and walked up to stand beside Jin. He hadn’t thought of closing the windows on his computers before he opened the door, he had been in too much of a hurry.

“Jin, it’s not what it looks like,” Kazuya said in an attempt to calm Jin.

“What is it, then? Because to me it looks like you hacked yourself into the system,” Jin said with a colourless voice, not even glancing at Kazuya.

“Yes, but it’s not so I can steal something or use the information against someone, I did it because I was intrigued by old cases and then I stumbled over that priest as someone typed the report. I told you then didn’t I? I had just planned on confirming my suspicions about the code and then I was going to call in an anonymous tip.” Kazuya explained, sounding a little more desperate than before.

“So you’ve been doing it for a long time...” Jin said before squatting down, hiding his face to his hands. “Oh my god,” he almost whispered. “I’ve been fooled the whole time.”

Kazuya faltered at seeing Jin so defeated but quickly regained his composure, “it’s not that bad Jin, come on. It’s not like I’ve been using you, we got into this together. It has nothing to do with the fact that I hacked the database.”

“Not that bad?” Jin was up in seconds, looking a whole lot angrier than when he had entered Kazuya’s room. “NOT THAT BAD?” he shouted. “Not that bad that you’ve committed a crime that could put you into jail for years and practically destroy not only my career but the whole station if it leaks out that we are letting a criminal solve our cases! Which part of this is NOT THAT BAD?!” Jin kicked the door again while bellowing the last three words.

“I wouldn’t go to jail, don’t be ridiculous. I’m a stellar student and I’m a Kamenashi, it wouldn’t even reach the news.”

“Oh, so you would bribe yourself out of the trouble. How nice to see that our morals match this good. Why the fuck have I ever let you into my life?!” Jin exclaimed, every word Kazuya said making him even more furious. He started striding to the door, kicking every object coming into his way.

“Jin, stop! Don’t do that, don’t just walk away! I would never bribe anyone, listen to me. I can’t fathom why no one has noticed yet, it must be like Matsumoto said that you all just see me as Ueda’s little cousin, but it’s the _name_ that would get me out of trouble no matter whether I wanted it or not. Doesn’t it ring any bells? Owner of the biggest concern in East Asia, one former prime minister and one former minister of commerce?!” Kazuya yelled desperately as Jin was almost out of his door.

“How nice that you have such splendid relatives to open doors for you and save you when you’re in trouble with their mere existence. Guess you don’t need me for that, then,” Jin said and then he was gone, slamming the door shut.

Kazuya hadn’t cried in disappointment since he was six and had decided that he wasn’t a baby anymore, so he punched a wall and convinced himself that his eyes got wet just because he hit hard enough to draw blood.

-

The sun had already set and Jin lit the last cigarette of the second pack he had opened that day. He was sitting in his car in the parking lot of the university, too tired and too angry to drive home. He leaned on the wheel, drying his eyes that had been running non-stop ever since he had reached his car and sat on the driver's seat. Jin had no idea how long he had sat there, for he hadn't turned on the engine. He suspected it was long past the time he had the table reserved for the dinner but he couldn't care less.

How could he have been so stupid and just neglect the fact Kazuya had somehow magically gained classified information about the first crime scene? Jin felt deceived. He angrily put the cigarette out and sighed.

Then suddenly the door to the front seat opened and someone sat down beside him. Jin turned his head just to see no other than Ooshima watching him with her jaw set.

”What's the matter? A lover's quarrel?” she asked and tilted her head.

Jin grumpily turned his head back. ”None of your business.”

”Watch it, son,” she said and squinted her eyes. ”Did you do something that gives me the responsibility to fetch my largest book?”

”Did I- No! It was the other way around,” Jin snapped before feeling tears in his eyes again. ”How could I trust him so easily? I should've noticed something was off.”

”Oh? What did he do, then?”

Jin stayed silent for a moment before sighing. ”You know Kazuya's part of one of our investigations, right?”

”Yep.”

”The killer contacted him again. He fooled me into taking off so he could investigate things on his own and then left without saying a word. After that I found out he has been hacking our database and claimed that he would get away with it because of his name.”

”And?” Ooshima asked, obviously not convinced by Jin's reasoning.

”And? How can I trust him after something like that?”

”Why wouldn't you. Just give him the access to the database and he won't have to hack anymore, as simple as that.”

Jin stared at Ooshima with his mouth hanging open. ”What?”

”Well, he's part of the investigation now.”

”Yeah, but it doesn't undo the fact that he has hacked in long before we took him on!” Jin said, frustrated by the way Ooshima didn't get his point.

”It's not like he would sell the information anywhere. And as he said, his name would cover him and the station if this leaked out. Listen now, Akanishi, your sense of justice is too one-dimensional. Having strong morals is admirable but if it leads into black-and-white thinking it's more of a curse than blessing.”

“You know Kamenashi's not a bad kid better than anyone. He's passionate and gets carried away, I give you that, and he most certainly shouldn't have endangered himself like that today. But he's really devoted to things and this investigation is really important to him, that's why he went into such lengths to get some progress. And he really, really likes you. He wouldn't let you lay a finger on him if he didn't. If you want your relationship to work, you need to open your mind and accept him. It doesn't mean that you should blindly accept everything he does but if you love him, you should care enough to even try to see it his way, that's all.”

Jin remained silent, softening word by word as Ooshima spoke. When she was finished, Jin could most certainly see why Kazuya had so much respect for his psychology professor.

”You- you're really something,” he finally muttered and blushed at his own stupidity that dawned on him as the angriness caused by the argument slowly faded away.

”Shut up, I'm too old and cynical to be flattered by some airhead's words,” Ooshima said in boredom and got out of his car. ”He likes daylilies. A cultivar called blue desire to be exact,” she added as a side note before casually walking away to her own car.

Jin was in daze for a moment before rushing to start the engine and drive off to the nearest flower shop, calling the nearby Chinese restaurant on the way.

-

After holding his hand under running cold water for ten minutes to lessen the swelling, Kazuya had retreated back to his computers and shut them down. It felt numbing, sitting there in the dark with silence all around him. At first he had planned to think of a way to apologize to Jin, but when he thought about how angry Jin had been it felt impossible. He heard people getting back to their rooms after having dinner or after a late class, back to rooms they shared with others. Here he was sitting, using his bedroom as a hideout for his computers and his small bed crammed into the corner of his living room. It made him think of the disgust Jin had shown him when he tried to explain about his family.

This was yet another new experience for Kazuya, he had never been hated for his name before, just for his person. Now it seemed it was both this time. Kazuya leaned back and let his head hang over the edge of the chair, this time he had really managed to get himself into trouble.

A timid knock on the door interrupted Kazuya’s state of depression.

“Yeah, I’m coming!” he stated tiredly and slowly dragged himself off the chair, wincing when he put weight on his right hand trying to steady his wobbly state. It was probably the mistress of the dorms that had gotten a complaint about the fracas earlier, so he ran his fingers through his messy hair, straightened his T-shirt and took a few calm breaths to steady the spinning world around him before opening the door.

“I’m sorry!” Jin said as soon as the sight of Kazuya came to his vision. He shoved the flowers to the boy and bowed down as deep as he could, waiting for Kazuya to push him away or start to yell. Not that he didn’t deserve both of the courses of action.

“Jin?” Kazuya asked in shock, “what are you doing?”

“Trying to get you to forgive me for being such an ass,” Jin answered and straightened with an apologizing expression. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you or left or said all those things. I’m an idiot and I understand if you can’t forgive me, I just... I just wanted you to know I’m sorry. I bought some food, you can eat it alone if you want to, you haven’t eaten after all. I can leave,” Jin said with his big sad eyes and handed Kazuya the bag with the still steaming hot food in it.

“Idiot!” Kazuya exclaimed, ignoring the bag, “you’re an idiot for making me worry that much!” he sobbed, letting out the tears he had held back for hours now.

“I’m an idiot, I’m a fucking moron,” Jin admitted miserably and dropped the bag in Kazuya’s room by the door before turning and making an attempt to leave. He should’ve known the boy wouldn’t just accept his apology like that after throwing such a huge tantrum.

Kazuya tried to wipe his tears best he could with his right hand stiff and hurting, but didn’t manage very well, by the time he looked up again Jin had already walked out in the corridor and he felt his throat clenching painfully. Had he not made it clear that he had worried that Jin wouldn’t want to see him ever again?

“So I really am no good?” he asked the other, “what did you come here to apologize for if you’re leaving anyway?”

Jin stilled and turned back. “I thought- I mean, you don’t want me to leave?” he asked, his heart jolting as he saw Kazuya standing there miserably with a bouquet of flowers and tears in his eyes.

“I was worried that you’d never want to see me again idiot!” Kazuya managed to say before he had to sit down on the floor. He was feeling terribly dizzy and lightheaded.

Jin rushed to Kazuya to kneel down beside him. “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly and took a gentle grasp on his shoulders.

“It’s nothing, I just think I overdid it a little... I haven’t slept properly for weeks,” Kazuya answered weakly and tried to get up again, cursing when he forgot about his sore hand.

“What the hell happened to your hand?” Jin shrieked with wide eyes as he saw the swollen knuckles. “Don’t try to get up!” he ordered before taking the flowers and tossing them aside. He circled his arms around Kazuya’s knees and waist to lift him up much like he had done that morning. He absent-mindedly kicked the still open door shut before carrying Kazuya to the corner of the living room and laying him down on the bed.

“Jin, seriously, I refuse being treated like the girl in this relationship when you’re the one acting like one,” Kazuya mumbled.

“Shut up and get better,” Jin said and slumped down beside the bed, burying his head to the edge of it, the worry, self-loathing and regret making him once again unable to hold back his tears.

“You’re not crying again are you? Because I don’t want you to cry because of things concerning me,” Kazuya whispered and rolled to his side so he could look at Jin. “I’m not sick, I’m just tired and I hit my hand against the wall because I needed an outlet.” Kazuya stopped but Jin’s silence urged him to carry on, “please, talk to me.”

“It’s all my fault,” Jin said silently before raising his head and getting up. “And now it’s my job to make sure you won’t get any worse,” he continued and walked to the bag of food long forgotten on the floor. He picked up one portion packed in a small box and walked to the sink, filling a glass with water.

“Can you sit up?” he asked when returning to Kazuya.

“Of course I can sit up,” Kazuya answered and eased himself up from the bed so he could lean against the wall.

“Eat up,” Jin said and gave the food and water to Kazuya, not looking him in the eyes. He then went to look for some bandages, stopping when noticing the forgotten bouquet on the floor. Jin smiled to himself bitterly when thinking that just fifteen minutes ago he had seriously thought a bunch of flowers would magically save their relationship when in fact Jin had so many things to make up for, Kazuya’s state and swollen hand not being the smallest.

He walked to the flowers and picked them up before grabbing a vase and filling it with water, putting the bouquet in. Well, at least Kazuya’s room would look a little more colourful now.

“It’s no fun eating alone,” Kazuya said and patted his bed beside him when Jin looked over, signalling he too should sit down.

“I need to find some bandages for your hand,” Jin said, feeling a shiver of shame striking through him. It was his fault.

“Will you stop it? If Ueda saw this little blemish he’d say ‘kid, if you’re crying over this then you’ve never seen what can happen to a man in the boxing ring’. Do you want to be even more overprotective than Ueda?”

Jin eyed the room for a while in hope of finding a first-aid kit but when finding none, finally gave up and hesitantly walked to the bed, sitting down on the edge so far away he didn’t touch Kazuya. He lowered his head, his bangs making it impossible to see his face, shame written all over it.

“For crying out loud...” Kazuya growled, putting his food down on the bedside table before he crawled over to Jin and hugged him. “I’m sorry for making you worry, okay? And I forgive you for getting angry earlier, I think a lot of people would’ve too. Can’t you at least look at me or is this the moment I really have to call Ueda, better yet Ryo, to get some reaction out of you?”

Jin snapped his head up. “Don’t apologize, I’m not mad!” he hurried to say. “I’m just so idiotic and so harsh sometimes I wonder how you could ever tolerate me, let alone go out with me,” he mumbled, forcing himself to keep the eye-contact even though he felt a strong urge to hide his face again.

“You know what?” Kazuya asked, “out of all the things you’ve done today and since we met there’s only one thing I’m struggling to accept and that is your compulsive self-pity,” Kazuya announced and felt so relieved he hardly felt the pain in his hand at all. Without waiting for a reaction he leaned in and kissed Jin on the lips.

Jin let his melancholic state of mind fly out of the window as relief and passion took over and he found himself circling his arms around Kazuya to pull him as close as possible whilst kissing him back almost desperately.

Kazuya smiled into the kiss and hummed approvingly, pushing Jin back on the bed so he could lie on top of him.

“It’s not as romantic as a date in a restaurant, but would you at least have dinner on the bed with me?” Kazuya asked as he broke the kiss.

“In a minute,” Jin murmured and leaned up to claim Kazuya’s lips again. “Let me enjoy the relief for a moment, I thought I lost you,” he said into the kiss.

“And I thought I had scared you away once and for all,” Kazuya answered.

“Oh no, you won’t get rid of me that easily,” Jin said with a smile. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose before voicing out his thoughts, muffled against Kazuya’s lips. “I love you too freaking much to give you up.”

“You do?” Kazuya sobbed, feeling tears well up once more. “Look at me, I’m an emotional wreck because of you... I... I think I might actually love you too,” he added.

Jin blushed and thanked god that his lips were sealed under Kazuya’s so that he wouldn’t start stuttering like a schoolgirl.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	9. So close yet so far

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate) (a.k.a. Rika). I'm attempting to re-upload this story as rapidly as possible, but since it is quite long and I'm going to have to format a lot of text it's going to take a while. Please be patient with me 💜🙏 Here comes the ninth chapter!
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _April 18th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 9 - So close yet so far**

Kazuya woke up when the soft and warm thing he had placed his head on started to move, making him imagine landslides and tsunamis in his half-awake state. The soft warmness kept shifting until his head fell off it and landed on another warm and soft thing. Confused and still sleepy, Kazuya cracked an eye open and found himself looking straight into Jin’s chest. Oh, he thought, they were both sleeping on his small bed. The faint morning light told him that it was still very early, he safely could go back to sleep. But then again, after looking up at Jin’s sleeping face, feeling his breath against his hair and realizing that their legs were frightfully tangled up together, he had a hard time imagining going back to sleep.

He nuzzled closer to Jin, pressing his lips against Jin’s jaw line and throat, humming in content as he felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach. It was a puzzle, he noted, how even a sleeping Jin could make his heart speed up. While sneaking an arm around Jin he let his head fall back down towards Jin’s arm and closed his eyes, just enjoying lying there with his first love, the one that made him feel normal. Sometimes at least.

A sudden urge to feel more of Jin came over him, when unable to calm his speeding heart, so Kazuya reached out again and planted a few kisses on Jin’s slightly flushed cheeks before he kissed him on his lips. Soft first, but when Jin stirred in his sleep, Kazuya smiled and angled his kiss slightly.

“Good morning sleepy head,” he whispered when Jin grumbled something incomprehensible.

Jin opened his sleepy eyes, not quite catching up with the situation. He grunted something that sounded like “not yet” and turned to the side, pressing Kazuya against his chest and throwing his leg over the boy, cuddling him much like he had done in his childhood with his favourite stuffed animal. He closed his eyes again, his breathing slowing down and it didn’t even take a minute until Jin was snoring contently with Kazuya caged in his arms.

Jin’s behaviour made Kazuya let out a small chuckle before he decided that it might be fun to provoke a few reactions out of the sleepy brute that had him in his grip right now. Kazuya managed to wriggle one of his legs loose so he could lean upwards and leave a trail of kisses from JIn’s collarbone to his ear. Something he was sure a person in love would be allowed to do.

“Five minutes, love,” Jin murmured and turned over to his stomach, snorting sleepily and nuzzling his face to Kazuya’s pillow.

“You know, when your socially awkward boyfriend wakes you up because he’s clingy and feels like kissing you should really take the chance to do something about it,” Kazuya pouted while trying to get enough space to lie down on the bed properly too, but Jin took up most of it.

“You’re impossible,” Jin said with a smile before turning over again and lying on his back. He opened his arms, still keeping his eyes closed. “Come here and kiss me then and I might just wake up.”

“I’m not in the mood anymore,” Kazuya announced but climbed on top of Jin and smiled as Jin hugged him close.

“Fine, then I won’t wake up,” Jin said and stubbornly kept his eyes shut while hugging Kazuya and chuckling. “I’m dreaming about hugging you now. And now I’m dreaming about rolling over to trap you under me so you can’t escape until you kiss me and wake me up,” Jin continued and did as he had threatened.

“Oi! You’re heavy,” Kazuya lectured but couldn’t keep from grinning, deciding that it was time to give in, he kissed Jin’s red and slightly chapped lips. Feeling a surge of need, he deepened the kiss, sometimes nipping at Jin’s lower lip.

Jin finally opened his eyes and smiled smugly. “Taking advantage of my defenceless state and kissing me, eh? Kids nowadays, no manners,” he chuckled before answering the kiss passionately and stroking Kazuya’s back.

“Would a kid do this?” Kazuya asked cheekily while they both broke the kiss to breathe, then letting his tongue venture into Jin’s mouth this time, surprising the other.

“Do I have to answer since I’d rather use my mouth for something else?” Jin mumbled and pushed out his own tongue. His hands came to life as well as his other hand moved down and almost hesitantly placed on Kazuya’s thigh. He rolled to the side, freeing Kazuya from his trap while his tongue still maneuvered with the boy’s. Jin guided Kazuya’s leg by the thigh so it was tossed over his. Jin’s other hand wriggled free from under the boy’s side and settled on his neck, massaging the muscles gently.

Kazuya felt his heart speeding up once more as Jin moved close, the heat of his skin burning through their layers of clothes. Out of reflex he bent his leg a little, pulling Jin impossibly close and felt a new and totally unknown urge awake deep inside.

Jin moaned and leaned against Kazuya, his fingertips drawing circles on the boy’s thigh while the other slid down the boy’s sensual neck and up again, disappearing into his hair and taking a painless grip.

Panting for air, Kazuya broke the kiss but bent his neck invitingly, urging Jin to move lower on his skin. He had no idea what he was getting himself into, but his body kept wanting to do things he had no control over.

Jin took the invitation without a second thought and placed his lips on the burning hot skin, planting a few light kisses on Kazuya’s neck until his instinct took over completely and he was kissing, sucking and biting on the skin, moving up and down, from the boy’s collar bone and throat to the ear, nibbling the earlobe every once in a while. Kazuya gasped and arched his back as Jin bit his skin. Feeling embarrassed and slightly dizzy from the heat and the closeness, he whispered Jin’s name shakily, asking for his attention.

Jin suddenly halted and realized what he was doing. He opened his eyes and gazed fearfully up at Kazuya’s face. Damn him and his occasionally out of control lust. Jin slapped himself mentally and detached from Kazuya.

“I think I’m still a bit out of it, sorry,” Kazuya whispered and fanned his burning face with his hand.

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have...” Jin let his voice trail off. He closed his eyes for a while, trying to calm himself down. He needed to cool off, his craving for Kazuya was overwhelming. Jin breathed out and opened his eyes, smiling at Kazuya in what he hoped was a gentle manner. His mind felt blurred and he had a hard time sucking in a groan of frustration.

“Have some rest, I’m going to take a shower,” Jin finally managed to say and he dashed off without another word.

Kazuya raised his eyebrows at Jin’s weird reaction but decided to let it go. Instead he threw the blanket out of the bed and spread himself out across it to cool down. As always, when Jin left his brain managed to wake up and trouble him with unsolved mysteries and yesterday’s adventure. The murderer’s message appeared before him, taunting and irritatingly straightforward. Like if it should be obvious how to interpret it. What did he mean with “So close, but yet so far away” anyway?

Had they been close in the stadium? The killer had remarked on the rather heavy man sitting next to him, on the state of the game, at the fact that he had to lure Jin away from him... and then it hit him. Without bothering to chase Jin out of the bathroom to tell him about his revelation, he went straight to his laptop sitting on his coffee table and started it up. It took him no longer than maybe ten minutes, but when he had his answer he rushed over to the bathroom door and knocked it repeatedly with his good hand.

“What?!” Jin shouted a little grumpily from the bathroom.

“Jin! I figured the riddle out! I know who’s the next victim!” Kazuya shouted through the door and could hardly stand still in excitement.

The water suddenly stopped running and in a few seconds Jin dashed out dripping wet, a towel wrapped around his hips haphazardly, wearing a damask shower cap Kazuya had no idea he even owned.

“What on earth are you-”Kazuya started but decided he had no time to investigate Jin’s attire further, “never mind, we need to go right away. He could still be alive if we hurry.” Kazuya threw Jin’s jeans and his leather jacket that he had left hanging on a chair the night before to him. Ignoring his stumped boyfriend, Kazuya put on some day clothes and started to rummage through his jacket in search of his phone and keys.

Jin hastily put on his clothes. He searched for his car keys almost feverishly and ran to the door ahead of Kazuya. “Let’s go!” he yelled, the shower cap still forgotten on his head. He dug out his phone, ready to call back-up as soon as Kazuya would tell where they were heading.

“I’m not letting you leave this room looking like that,” Kazuya chuckled and jumped up to grab the irritating pink creation. “I think it’s something mum has left me,” he added and ruffled Jin’s hair.

“It’s snappy, I like it,” Jin said and grinned. “Okay, ready?”

“Now I am yes, let’s go.”

Jin grabbed Kazuya’s arm when he was about to dash out to the hallway and trapped him in a kiss. “In case I’ll have to take a bullet for you,” he said half-jokingly and walked out.

Jin’s words froze Kazuya to the spot for a moment, before he felt even more determined to catch the killer. He wanted to deserve that unconditional love Jin seemed to have for him, that kind of love that made him feel small and insignificant. After taking a deep breath he locked his door and ran after Jin.

-

Jin parked his car and took a deep breath. He was glad they were traveling on his civilian police car so they wouldn’t draw as much attention. Kazuya had given him the address and he had called back-up but they were still the first ones to arrive. He glanced at the clock and bit his lip, glancing at Kazuya who was totally caught up in his mental world. He hadn’t uttered a word during the ride.

“How much time do we have to lose?” he asked.

“I don’t know, minutes, hours, or maybe it’s too late,” Kazuya answered while staring out the window towards the house at the other side of the street, the house were the victim lived.

Jin pondered for a second before bending down and taking out the knife he always had in his boot. He handed it to Kazuya, frowning worriedly. He had to go up and take a look in case he could still save the man. Kazuya, however, couldn’t possibly come with him and he hated the thought of leaving him alone in the car but considering the circumstances he had no choice.

“Take this and stay here.”

“Jin, you’re not thinking about going in there alone?” Kazuya asked, ignoring the knife Jin held out to him.

“I don’t want to leave you here alone but I have no choice, the man could be still alive if the murderer isn’t finished.” Jin felt unbearably anxious, various images of what could happen to Kazuya while he was gone suddenly rushing to his mind. But as Kazuya had said, it was possible they only had minutes left before it would be too late.

“It’s not me I’m worried about stupid,” Kazuya mumbled back and took the knife Jin offered him, “Go get him.”

Jin took out his gun and despite his distress loaded it with confident movements. He then turned to Kazuya and smiled. “I have no bullet vest so I need to keep this out. Don’t worry, I won’t kill our murderer if he’s there.”

“You’re quite handy sometimes,” Kazuya said with a grin, clearly impressed with Jin’s confidence.

Jin quickly glanced around before kissing Kazuya briefly. “If I’m not back in 15 minutes, call Ueda. Don’t leave the car, no matter what kind of noises you might hear. Okay?”

“Yes sir,” Kazuya answered, and took his phone out of his pocket, signalling he was ready.

“See you, love,” Jin said and stepped out of the car, locking the doors after himself. He checked the windows of the building the estimated victim was living in to make sure no one was pointing a gun at him and then ran lightly to the wall, holding his gun down with two steady arms.

Once reaching the house Jin tiptoed behind the door and listened. No sounds were audible but it didn’t necessarily mean there was no danger.

Jin drew back and aimed a kick, breaking the lock with one strong movement of his leg before dashing in. The hallway was empty, Jin noted after scanning through it. He checked room after room, just to find nothing extraordinary. Once he reached the last room, bedroom, he was already fearing the worst. The murderer had fled with the man to God knows where and the game had been over long before they had entered it.

Jin opened the final room and scanned through it with his gun ready to answer some possible fire or threat. The person he saw, however, wasn’t the murderer. He had been right; the game was over already and the proof, the victim, was hanging from the bedroom ceiling.

Jin squatted down and felt his senses fill with anger and frustration. He had no idea if it had already been fifteen minutes. He was so furious he just couldn’t move an inch.

-

Kazuya stared at the screen of his phone, sixteen minutes, seventeen minutes. He couldn’t keep calm any longer, even though he trusted Jin. With shaking hands he managed to maneuver his touch screen to find Ueda amongst his contacts, breathing out through his nose and in through his mouth to keep himself from breaking into a million pieces right there in the car.

“I think, no, I know that Jin has gotten into trouble in the house. He went in before backup could arrive,” Kazuya forced himself to say the moment Ueda answered his phone. The sharp intake of breath he could hear his cousin take didn’t exactly help.

“He’s in there with the killer?!” Ueda shot back, this time Kazuya could hear Ryo swear in the background.

“Yes, it’s a matter of life and death here, can you like, hurry up?” Kazuya asked, feeling tears well up and his throat clenched. His knuckles had turned white from the tight grip he had on Jin’s knife.

“We’re on our way Kazu-chan, can you see anything?” Ueda asked with a calming tone.

“No... no I can’t see anything... wait!” Kazuya almost shouted as he saw someone coming out, he nearly started crying out of relief when he saw that it was Jin, “he’s coming out, he’s alright,” Kazuya added to his cousin and hung up without any other explanation. When Jin got closer he could, however, see that he looked furious.

Jin kept his jaw tight and waved at Kazuya to signal it was safe and that he could come out now. Seeing the boy softened his hard eyes a little and replaced the fury with sorrow. He was afraid of how Kazuya would react when he would hear about the body.

“So the place is empty?” Kazuya asked after getting out of the car, translating Jin’s anger as a sign that the killer had taken the man with him somewhere else.

Jin avoided eye-contact with the boy and walked to him, taking a gentle grip of his shoulders and slowly lifting his gaze to the boy’s face.

“Listen, Kazuya...” he took a shaky breath. “We didn’t make it on time, we lost him.”

“Oh, alright, that... that freaking sucks,” Kazuya let out and leaned back against the side of Jin’s car, hands in his pockets.

“I... I’m not sure if you should go up there,” Jin said carefully, afraid of the boy’s reaction.

Kazuya just nodded and let his head hang, his bangs covering his face. He felt like an idiot, like a failure, for not managing to solve such a simple riddle quicker than this. He had let the drama with Jin take over completely and that had been his fault too. Strange enough he didn’t feel like crying this time at all, he just let his brain take over completely, shutting out all emotions. It felt like the whole world was lifted from his shoulders, the dead weight had been piling up on him since weeks ago.

Jin hesitantly took Kazuya’s hand and tried to read his expression, unable to do so. Kazuya looked completely indifferent.

“Kazuya?” he tried and squeezed the hand.

“Yes Akanishi?” Kazuya asked, his brows pulled close together, trying to remember why the other was looking so concerned, why he was holding his hand.

Jin twitched as if he had been lashed with a whip when he heard Kazuya call him by his last name. He instantly let go of the other’s hand and backed off, trying to hold in the little crack he felt in his heart. It wasn’t because the boy was suddenly cold, it was the fact that Kazuya would rather shut him out than to let him in when he wasn’t alright.

“How did he do it?” Kazuya finally asked, face bereft of even the confusion he had felt just a moment ago.

“Hanged,” Jin answered silently and took out a cigarette, beginning to smoke in silence.

The boy took his glasses off to polish some small speck of dirt with the corner of his cardigan and put them back on without saying a word about the fourth killing.

“Second hand smoking kills, at least that’s what we’re told,” he lectured and waved his hand at Jin as if to scold him for smoking beside him.

“Sorry,” Jin said and obediently put the cigarette out. He was just about to ponder what to say next when he heard the voice of sirens. He sighed in relief as four police cars curved to the parking lot. Jin instructed the first officers coming out to the right apartment and ordered them to call Horikita and Taguchi as well as tape the crime scene.

“Hey! Don’t hang up on me like that again!” Ueda lectured, he and Ryo had arrived slightly after the others and had their car parked further down the street.

“He came out, there was no need to talk anymore,” Kazuya answered and nodded to Ryo who had his arms crossed over his chest, standing close by Ueda.

“And you! You idiot! Isn’t it enough that I have that fearless little brat to look after? Do I have to worry my ass off for you too?” Ueda barked, this time aimed at Jin who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but in the sight of the angered police officer.

“Sorry,” Jin mumbled and started walking towards the building again, approaching the crime scene. He couldn’t stand watching Kazuya’s cold essence for a second longer.

Ryo shrugged at Ueda when the latter shot him a questioning look, “don’t ask me, I have no idea what’s going on with those two.”

“Nothing is going on,” Kazuya answered matter of factly and eased off the car, “shall we take a look at the mess then?” he added and started to follow the path Jin had taken up towards the building. “We’ve still got a killer to catch.”

“Yes, sir!” Ryo joked and punched Ueda’s arm playfully, “Let’s go Mr. Mother Hen.” he said while imitating Horikita’s slightly dazed way of speaking.

Giving a meaning to the words “speaking of the devil” Taguchi’s car appeared in sight with the woman Ryo had mocked sitting on the front seat. When they stepped out, Horikita bowed politely.

“Mr. Mother Hen, Mr. Oompa-Loompa,” she addressed Ueda and Ryo before turning to Kazuya and stilling.

“Great change in aura,” she said to him, looking slightly confused.

“What now Horikita?” Kazuya bit back, he had turned when he noticed Taguchi arriving, one of the few people he respected at the station. He should’ve known that the weird woman would be with him though.

Horikita squinted her eyes and observed Kazuya and after some time her eyes went wide in realization. “No, it’s that you’re holding yourself back, Mr. Love-Aura. You should stop it, it consumes the mana in your body greatly.”

“Good, because the only thing that’s useful is logic, reason and a healthy doze of deduction-skills,” Kazuya answered the pathologist before continuing to walk towards the building.

“Poor human child,” she said to Taguchi and shook her head. “Will you offer me your arm and walk me to the crime scene, Mr. Bad-Puns?” she then asked and let out something that remotely resembled an affectionate smile.

Taguchi jumped out of the state of admiration he felt for Kazuya who could speak so easily with Horikita and hurried to her side, “sure, this way,” he said and took her arm heading in after Kazuya.

The victim’s home was filled with memorabilia from a life long gone. There was a paled wedding picture on a shelf, an old photo of a school baseball team and other things like them. Kazuya knew that the murdered man lived in the address alone, making him draw the conclusion that he had been married, but later divorced. There weren’t any pictures of kids, so he figured it was a childless marriage, maybe the reason for the divorce. However interesting he found it to discover bits and pieces of the person he had had a chance to save, he moved through the rooms towards what he guessed was the bedroom.

Kazuya criss crossed his way through the police officers standing in the hallway, moving closer to the open doorway, even walking past Jin so he could catch a glimpse of the body. He gulped at the sight he was met with. The man was hanging in the middle of the room, so close to the ground he could almost reach it, the chair lying on the floor beside him not nearly high enough for him to have broken his neck in the fall. He had suffocated to death.

Taking in the factor of temperature and sunlight, Kazuya figured the man had been hanging there since midnight. He could’ve saved him if he had been working at his normal speed. He had killed another of the victims being a slow, slow turtle. It almost made him chuckle as he realized it was the killer’s own words that had come to his mind, but instead he felt a breath get caught in his throat and tears well up in his eyes. Where is Jin? he asked himself in panic and searched through the hallway frantically until he caught a glimpse of the other. He could hardly keep himself together but he somehow managed to grab Jin by his arm and drag him out of the place, out to a back street behind the building.

“I-I can’t breathe,” he hissed through ragged breaths and leaned against a concrete wall.

Jin felt the familiar feeling of tenderness and protectiveness take him over as he did what he had done so many times before and sat down, pulling Kazuya to his lap and circling his arms around him.

“Breathe with me, Kazuya,” he said and cradled the shaking body calmingly with slow movements.

Kazuya relaxed the moment Jin closed his arms around him and felt the tension slowly leave his body, letting his tears flow freely. It didn’t take long before he had buried his face against Jin’s neck and clenched his fists in the collar of Jin’s jacket.

“I really tried this time,” Kazuya whispered between sobs, “but it wasn’t enough.”

“I know, love, I know,” Jin said silently and kissed Kazuya’s hair. He fought to keep his own tears back in order not to cause Kazuya to feel anxious but instead did all he could to remain calm and gentle.

“Maybe I should just give in? I’ve been holding back this prickling feeling that we’re so much alike, he and I, cold intellect, hard edges, but I don’t want to be like that, Jin. I really don’t want to be like that, but the more I think about it the more I realize that I’m just a hair’s breadth away. Can’t you see the cracks?” Kazuya pulled back a little so he could let Jin look him in the eyes, so he could look closely and tell him what he saw.

“You’re not like him, Kazuya, not in a million years. He’s sadistic, emotionless, cruel and treats human lives as something worthless. You are caring, sensitive and do everything you can to save the lives he has threatened to take. You’re not like him, if you were you wouldn’t care about his victims. If you were like him, you would already cooperate with him. If you were like him, I would never have fallen in love with you.” Jin gazed Kazuya in the eyes the whole time, his eyes showing undeniably that he was being honest with his thoughts.

Kazuya stared back at Jin with frantic eyes, mouth slightly ajar as if he couldn’t really control himself anymore. He realized that his heart was beating so fast it was almost irregular, felt his whole body buzz with adrenaline. “So this is what fear feels like?” he asked, almost in amazement. Fear was one of those things he had never found a reason to feel before, but the thought of actually tipping over the edge towards insanity frightened him more than anything else he had ever experienced.

“Yes. Fear doesn’t kill, just remember that the moment you stop fighting it, it takes over you. You’re not alone in this, Kazuya.” Jin stroked his cheek and tenderly wiped away some tears.

As if the touch of Jin’s fingers against his skin had awakened him, Kazuya suddenly felt like he just now had opened his eyes, this time really looking at Jin. Jin who always took time to comfort him as long as Kazuya asked him to. “I need you,” he admitted, moving back into Jin’s embrace, drawing in Jin’s familiar scent, “please don’t leave right now.”

“I’m here for you. No matter what it is, I’ll always be there for you. Please, don’t ever break my heart by doubting that,” Jin said with a slightly stirred voice, a few persistent tears pushing through his calm mask.

“What did I say about crying?” Kazuya lectured as he felt small sobs build up in Jin’s chest, “not on my watch,” he added and kissed Jin below the tip of his ear, hoping that no one would walk back here right now and find them both in such a miserable state.

“I’m sorry, I’m trying to hold it back,” Jin sniffled and hugged Kazuya so closely it almost hurt. “We’ll survive this together and catch him. Then I’ll buy a bigger flat so you can move in and we’ll live happily. We’ll quarrel and occasionally drive each other crazy but we’ll be happy,” he added and tried to melt to be part of his sweet mental images that brought a breeze of hope to his heart.

Kazuya let out something close to a chuckle and poked Jin in his side,”should I be worried by the fact that you’re already planning my life for me or should I just be happy that you haven’t named our kids yet,” Kazuya joked, but drew back so he could smile, showing Jin that he felt better.

“Or you could just tell me how much you’d love to accompany me,” Jin said with a smile and kissed Kazuya sweetly and soothingly.

“I could,” Kazuya said but kept the ending of the sentence to himself; but maybe not in this life.

Jin retreated a little and wriggled out his phone from his pocket, opening the contacts list and making a call.

“Koyuki? Inform Ando and Matsumoto that Kamenashi and I will take a day off tomorrow, will you?”

He listened to the woman a while and smiled apologetically.

“I know Ando will freak out but it’s kind of urgent. Tell him to call me if he needs someone to yell at.”

Koyuki said something that to Kazuya sounded like a question, judged by the faint part of the woman’s voice he heard through the phone.

“Everything’s fine, don’t worry,” Jin said and smiled at whatever the woman answered. ”I know, I owe you. I’ll inform them myself next time. Bye.” Jin hung up and sighed. “Poor Koyuki, Ando doesn’t take last minute absences too cheerfully.”

“That wasn’t necessary Jin, a quick run and I’ll be back better than ever,” Kazuya said slightly scolding, “and now we’ll miss the exciting part of the forensic investigations.”

“You can run all you want after the day off. You need some sleep and good food. And we won’t miss a thing. When we get back to work the day after tomorrow we’ll have the photos of the crime scene, the autopsy report and the background check on the victim neatly placed on my desk and then it’s easy to pick up work again.” Jin wasn’t about to give up. He was still worried about the lack of sleep Kazuya had suffered from, not to mention the boy’s mental health.

“For once I can’t argue with you, except for the fact of anything being placed neatly on your desk. That desk is a war zone,” Kazuya said and stretched the stiff joints in his right hand.

“It’s carefully organized, a novice like you just can’t realize it,” Jin said a little offended and kissed Kazuya quickly. “Shall we go inside?”

At that Kazuya laughed a little before he nodded, “yes, before Ueda rallies up the whole precinct to search for us.”

-

The weak morning light, replacing the orange glow of the city night and Kazuya decided he didn’t have to force himself to fall asleep one more time. Instead he observed Jin sleeping beside him for a moment, smiling at how he hugged a pillow tight, before he got up and went to the bathroom to refresh himself.

Jin was still sleeping after a shower and Kazuya’s attempt to tame his unruly hair with a blow dryer, but Kazuya didn’t want to wake him up. There wasn’t much to do, in an apartment he wasn’t fully used to, but to make himself some breakfast and make Jin that coffee he gulped down all day long. He knew Jin would be angry at him for not sleeping, so he figured he needed something to appease him with. A rummage in Jin’s cupboards and fridge later he set upon the task of making pancakes and omelets, since there was an abundance of egg cartons forgotten behind cans of beer and old sandwiches.

Feeling terribly accomplished, Kazuya stacked the food up on a big tray and made his way towards Jin’s bedroom carrying a mouthwatering scent with him.

“Jin,” Kazuya said while shaking him slightly by the shoulder. He had put the tray down on the bedside table and was halfway back on the bed to reach the other. “Jin wake up. You don’t get any breakfast if you keep sleeping,” Kazuya threatened when he didn’t get any other reaction from him other than the flicker of his eyelids.

Jin grunted, rolled on his back and grabbed Kazuya’s hand to pull him on top of his chest with a soft thump. He circled his arms around his boyfriend and let out a sleepy snort, trying to slide back to the pleasant dream Kazuya had interrupted.

“You’re terrible with mornings,” Kazuya grumbled and tried to get loose but failed.

“Listen here, I made you breakfast and it’s getting cold as I speak, will you please wake up?”

“What did you make me?” Jin murmured, half-asleep and caressed Kazuya’s back with languid hands.

“You’ll find out yourself if you wake up properly,” Kazuya retorted cooly, but had a hard time not snuggling up against Jin.

The officer opened his eyes and smelled Kazuya’s hair. He then threw his hands above his head, stretching his back and sides while humming, wriggling underneath Kazuya.

“Sit up and I’ll get the food,” Kazuya instructed before getting back off the bed. A sleepy Jin did as he was told and was rewarded with the tray placed on his lap.

Jin’s eyes opened wide with hunger as he saw the omelets and pancakes Kazuya put in front of him. He felt his mouth starting to get wet with saliva as he hesitantly put a spoonful of food into his mouth.

“Ah! It’s delicious!” he said in amazement, obviously not expecting the breakfast would taste that good.

“What did you expect stupid? That I’d poison you with rotten food?” Kazuya asked while slowly chewing on a pancake. Halfway lost in thoughts.

“Say ah!” Jin pushed a forkful of omelet in front of Kazuya with a childlike smile and sparkling eyes, evidently excited by the thought of feeding his boyfriend.

Kazuya gave him a death glare and turned his head away from him in protest, “if you get any sillier I’ll leave.”

Jin gave Kazuya his hurt, kicked puppy-look and put the fork down, sadly hanging his head. He started yelping like a dog, secretly smiling under the hair hiding his head.

“I warned you, that’s taking it one step too far.”

Kazuya placed the rest of his pancake on the tray and brushed his hands off before easing off the bed. “I’m not a kid Jin,” he added.

Jin reacted quickly and put the plate away before grabbing Kazuya and pinning him to the bed, smiling with the other corner of his mouth.

“You know, it’s our day off. What do I need to do so you stop being so damn tense and grumpy. You’re acting like a sour old man whose false teeth have been stolen,” he said and laughed lightly.

“You’re evil and I’m hungry,” Kazuya grumbled, “so I’ll give up, but just this once.”

“Should I make the food mush for you so it’s easier to eat, gramps?” Jin teased and tickled Kazuya’s neck briefly.

“I said I’m giving up!” Kazuya managed to squeak while trying to avoid Jin’s tickling fingers.

“Yeah, so you’re on my mercy now,” Jin smirked before kissing Kazuya, forgetting his tickling mission. “So I’ll take a good morning kiss as my prize,” he added once he drew back before taking Kazuya’s lips again.

Kazuya smiled and relaxed, letting Jin kiss him as much as he wanted, but the smell of the food made his stomach grumble in protest at it taking too much time.

“Okay, time to eat,” Jin announced once hearing the noise Kazuya’s stomach made. “By the way, we’re going out today,” he continued while handing Kazuya his plate and taking his own.

“Just out or _out_ out?”

“Well nothing spectacular. Shopping, eating and so forward,” Jin said and stuffed the remains of his omelet to his mouth in one go. Kazuya sent him a disapproving look at his lack of manners but concentrated on his own food instead.

“Anything but a theme park sounds great, I can’t stand them,” Kazuya said with his eyebrows knitted in concentration, “I’ve got some sort of recollection of them being a popular date location.”

“You don’t like amusement parks?” Jin said with wide eyes. He hadn’t been planning on taking Kazuya to one today but the mere information was something shocking. “How is that even possible? We go to amusement parks with Pi all the time and have all kinds of competitions like who can go to the rollercoaster more times before throwing up and so on. Super fun!” Jin explained, looking like a kid telling about his favourite children’s cartoon to an adult.

“I don’t find anything fun about throwing up and what’s more I don’t like the way I stand out while I’m there. If it’s not evident that I’m odd under normal circumstances then it sure shows at places like that,” Kazuya explained while dipping a piece of pancake into a puddle of syrup.

“Here we go again...” Jin sighed. “I’m beginning to think that maybe if you stopped yacking to yourself about how different you are all the time, you wouldn’t stand out at all. You’re a psychology student right? Shouldn’t you be the one to know that there’s no such thing as a ‘normal human being’. We’re all twisted in a way, those who make a big deal out of it just end up being too stressed about themselves. Look at me, I shower with pink shower caps, play dog and talk to a pillow yet no one makes a scene about it since I myself am so laid-back about my character. Whatever floats your boat without hurting anybody, do it and don’t stress.” Jin shook his head with a smile and attacked his pancake eagerly.

“Well, you’re cute when you’re crazy, I’m an old man who’s gotten his false teeth stolen...” Kazuya sulked and put away his plate. “But I’d like to go out with you, doing things I mean. It feels like I’ve been cooped up either at school or the station for months now and it’s a picture perfect summer weather outside,” he said and smiled a little.

“Then it’s a deal,” Jin said in satisfaction and gobbled down the rest of his breakfast. After putting the plate away he turned to Kazuya and smiled sneakily.

“What should we do now?” he asked, faking innocence.

“Do the dishes?”

Jin chuckled and shifted closer to Kazuya. “Hmm, I don’t think that’s it,” he said with a low voice before nuzzling the boy’s hair and kissing his cheek playfully. His arms had already circled around Kazuya’s waist.

“No?” Kazuya said, joining the game.

“No,” Jin confirmed before starting to plant kisses on Kazuya’s face and neck, blowing air to his ear a couple of times and causing the younger to shiver.

“Then what?”

“I don’t know,” Jin answered, faking confusion, before kissing Kazuya demandingly. He was lonely after a whole night of snuggling Condoriano instead of his boyfriend.

“Too bad, I’m out of suggestions... let’s just stay like this for a while,” Kazuya sighed but shifted so he could put his head on the pillow behind him, making himself comfortable.

“Sure thing,” Jin answered with a smile and leaned back with a content sigh.

-

“How much money do you have exactly?” Jin asked when Kazuya pushed yet another bag of clothes he had bought to him. And they weren’t very cheap clothes at that, Kazuya seemed to only buy the trendiest brands. He had only bought a pair of jeans himself, along with nicotine patches he had hidden from Kazuya. He hadn’t forgotten the way Kazuya had expressed his distaste for smoking in front of the latest crime scene.

“How should I know, it’s dad’s credit card... grandpa gave me one a couple of years back too. I think it’s in here somewhere,” Kazuya mumbled and searched through the abundance of cards he had jammed into his wallet.

“Forget I asked,” Jin murmured and strolled out of the store, carrying so many bags in his left hand he had trouble keeping balance. “Anywhere else you want to go?” he asked Kazuya who had come out after him.

“I was just about to ask you if there’s somewhere you wanted to go, you look like you’ve had enough for one day,” Kazuya chuckled and took a few of the bags out of his distressed looking boyfriend’s hands.

“Ah, I should visit Koki’s shop. His cover-up, he does tattoos and sells all kinds of artsy stuff. Wanna come along?” Jin asked, not remembering what kind of disaster had occurred last time Kazuya met Koki and got caught up in his cool presence.

“Yes, I’d really like to meet Koki again!” Kazuya admitted while his whole face lit up.

“Okay, let’s go then,” Jin said and ruffled Kazuya’s hair with his free hand. “But don’t say aloud that I’m a cop or that Koki’s undercover if there’s other customers, okay? You never know who might hear.”

“Yup! Understood!” Kazuya answered while saluting Jin.

Koki’s shop was on one of the nearby streets, slightly further away from the big streets. The whole essence screamed “dangerous” and Jin chuckled when thinking that the place fitted his colleague perfectly.

“Yo, Koki,” Jin said casually as he paced in with Kazuya. The man was sitting behind an old-looking table, reading a magazine with his legs up on the surface. The furniture was old and worn out and the temperature was slightly high. Those facts combined with Koki’s general appearance Jin wasn’t surprised by the reports according to which the shop hardly made any profit. But it was all for the show and Koki had told he tattooed gang marks and other suspicious things more often than regular tattoos.

“Hey Jin, what brings you here?” Koki asked while taking his legs down, giving Jin a nod before he turned to Kazuya, “and kiddo, welcome to the lord’s humble abode.”

“The lord’s?” Kazuya asked back cheekily and raised his eyebrows.

“Oi! Don’t you teach the brats some manners these days?” Koki asked but smiled wide enough to show off small glistening rocks and gold in his grin.

“I’m not his father but I’m doing my best,” Jin said and grinned. “Anyway, I want a poster.”

“You came all the way here for a poster, Jin I’m disappointed in you,” Koki lectured but rose from his seat and went back to a couple of bookcases alongside the wall. “I got a new shipment with some things done from oil paintings and some graphic prints last week, maybe that will be to your liking,” Koki informed and gave Kame a wink.

Jin went through the posters once without saying anything and then turned to Kazuya.

“I can’t decide!” he said in desperation. “Which one would you pick?”

Kazuya stared at them for a moment before he pointed at one that caught his attention, ”that one, with the forest and all the blue flowers, there’s bound to be all sorts of interesting butterflies and bugs there,” he stated matter-of-factly and nodded to himself.

Jin tilted his head and looked at the poster. It sure was pretty and colorful, perfect for what he was buying it for. “You’re right, I’ll take it.”

After paying and receiving the poster he was just about to voice out his other purpose for coming there when the door slid open and a pale, shaky man came in, out of breath.

“Mr. Tanaka!” He said and tried to catch his breath. He was about to continue when he noticed Kazuya and quickly shut his mouth. The snitch knew Jin but he had never seen the boy before.

“Ah, Fujiwara, who chased you down the street this time?” Koki asked, looking a bit irritated at the new visitor.

Fujiwara threw a questioning look at Kazuya without speaking up. Jin chuckled. “He’s part of the code-case, I’m sure you have heard of it. He’s Kamenashi Kazuya, you may speak in front of him. Kazuya, this is Fujiwara Tatsuya, Koki’s snitch,” he said, introducing the two to each other.

“Oh, right,” Fujiwara said hastily. “I got a word from Ishida, there’s going to be a big delivery arriving tonight at the harbor,” he panted and sat on the couch beside the door.

“At the harbor?” Kazuya asked in disbelief and turned to Koki, “that’s the most unimaginative place I could ever think of.”

“Don’t nag Kame-chan, we’re just mere commoners, easily victims for nostalgia and routines,” Koki explained while giving Kazuya one of his extra sweet smiles, however sweet he could look with his bleached hair and his gangster fashion.

“Right, Fujiwara, why don’t you keep Kamenashi company while I discuss something with Koki?” Jin asked and turned to the undercover cop. “I need some equipment,” he said, knowing that Koki would get what he meant.

“You heard the man, stay with Kame-chan,” Koki added and led Jin through the door in the back of the shop, down a narrow staircase to the basement.

“So, anything special?” Koki asked while gesturing towards the huge amount of gear and weapons he has stacked on shelves.

“The killer has contacted Kamenashi, I thought that he might need a weapon, just in case,” Jin said and walked along the weapons, observing them. “Of course we can’t give him a gun but something he can hide and use for protection.”

“I’ve got some knives in the style of the one you have, he could hide it in his boots, he seems to be wearing them even in the summer,” Koki suggested.

“Yeah, a foldable knife or switchblade could be it. I guess I’ll need to teach him some tricks on how to use it, where to aim and so on...” Jin said worriedly.

“Knowing that kid you could probably just give him a book on anatomy and he’d figure it out himself,” Koki mused and started taking some things out from a shelf, “the smaller ones would fit, right?”

“As long as it’s long enough to kill with, meaning that it has to reach the heart if it’s stabbed to the chest.”

“No need my man, this one would puncture a lung and then the attacker would be more or less out, pretty handy if you want to gut something as well.”

“Okay, let’s have it then. How much?” Jin asked, observing the switchblade in satisfaction, taking out his wallet.

Koki made a hissing noise and pushed back Jin’s hands holding the wallet. “Don’t you dare pay for stuff like this, I like Kame-chan,” he scolded and cooed, saying Kazuya’s name.

“You do?” Jin asked, suddenly alert and frowning. “As a friend?” he had to confirm.

“You’re stupid and you’re a bad drinker. I talked with him for hours that night at the bar when you were sulking at the bar counter, we’re friends,” Koki informed Jin with a proud grin.

“I see, nice to hear,” Jin said and forced a smile even though he felt like pouting. “I’ll give him the blade once we’re alone. Thanks, Koki,” Jin said and walked back to Kazuya and Fujiwara, who were sitting there in awkward silence.

“Took you long enough,” Kazuya scolded and stretched his sore right hand like he had caught the habit of doing now and then, “I couldn’t even get him interested in my lock picks.”

“Your lock picks?“ Jin said with a choke. He turned to Koki and let out a whining noise. “He’s impossible!”

“What? You’ll be happy I have them when we find ourselves chained somewhere in a dark basement,” Kazuya sulked and looked at Koki for support. The undercover cop just laughed and patted Jin on his back.

“Quite the catch you’ve got there Jin, now get out of here you two so I can talk to this rotten kid in peace and quiet.”

“Gotcha, ” Jin said and smirked, waving Kazuya out of the store to leave Koki and the snitch there alone.

“Should we go home?” he asked Kazuya. He had nothing else to buy at the mall after all.

“Yeah, I’m starting to get a bit tired after all,” Kazuya answered and leaned into Jin.

“Mmh,” Jin said and pressed his head against Kazuya’s hair, staying like that until they reached the parking lot and got to Jin’s car.

“Thanks for today,” Kazuya whispered as Jin was putting all the bags into the trunk of his car, hugging Jin from behind.

“You deserved a day off,” Jin said and smiled before turning to face him in the empty parking lot.

“It might actually be the first one in over a year, Ueda usually chases me out of the house now and then though.”

“Poor you. But today I forbid you from doing any work. We’ll buy pizza and watch movies,” Jin announced with a grin and petted Kazuya’s hair.

“There’s always a first for everything,” Kazuya noted absentmindedly about Jin’s suggestion before he stood up on his toes, just high enough so he could reach Jin’s lips and kiss him. Taking a firmer grip around Jin’s back.

Jin kissed him back with a smile and prolonged the moment, petting Kazuya’s hair and shoulders affectionately before finally breaking the kiss. “Going public already?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Yeah, because there’s loads of people in this empty parking lot,” Kazuya snickered back.

“Someone could come,” Jin teased before leaning over to kiss him again. “And they would see us and think that we’re a really hot couple,” he continued and deepened the kiss.

Kazuya smiled into the kiss and poked Jin at his side in an attempt to scold him wordlessly.

Jin wriggled a little before shifting so that Kazuya was pressed against the car with him trapping him there, not intending to break the kiss but instead made it more passionate and heated. He laughed through his nose and put his hands on the boy’s hips.

It sure would serve as a suspicious sight, Kazuya mused, but found himself not caring. Instead he tried to shift position without having to put his weight on his hand which he held himself upright with against the car. Jin was evidently not showing any mercy now that Kazuya had started it himself.

Jin pressed fully against Kazuya, pressing him tight against the car and tilted his head, bringing his tongue to the kiss, partially to forget his rush of jealousy he had experienced at Koki’s shop, partially because he wanted to test how far Kazuya would go before thinking it was too much for a public place.

The more Jin leaned into him the harder Kazuya found it to keep up and Jin’s car wasn’t the most comfortable thing to be pressed up against. “Maybe we should continue this somewhere a little more private, and not against a car,” Kazuya chuckled as he drew back for some air.

“You’re right, even if I hate to admit it and let go,” Jin answered and backed off. “You won’t get off this lightly at home though,” he said and winked before opening the door of the driver’s seat and getting in.

Kazuya raised an eyebrow at that and shot Jin a look once he had joined him in the car. “Maybe it’s you who has to look out for me not handing you a burnt piece of pizza, poisoning you to death if you fail to behave.”

-

They were sitting on Jin’s couch, snuggling each other tightly. Kazuya was eating his pizza with sophistication, using a knife and fork, whereas Jin was just stuffing slice after slice to his mouth barehanded, eating a half of his pizza in no time.

“I’m so hungry!” he announced and smiled happily at Kazuya before wolfing down another piece.

“You really are a big brute,” Kazuya laughed and threw a paper napkin at him, “I can’t believe that that’s your idea of a proper way to eat.”

“I’m at home, who cares,” Jin said with his mouth full of food. He ate the last piece and carelessly wiped his mouth and hands clean with the napkin. “Eh? How can you still have half of yours left?!” he asked, looking disbelieving.

“I don’t wanna choke and die,” Kazuya muttered and ignored the look Jin gave him.

“Oh, right!” Jin said and sprang up. He hurried to his bag and took out the poster. “Here,” he said and handed it to Kazuya.

“It was for me?” Kazuya asked while putting the cutlery down, “wow, thanks Jin,” he added with a big smile.

“Well, your dorm room is kind of colourless, it needs something to spice it up a little,” Jin answered with a grin. “Put it on your wall or I’ll sulk!”

“I will, don’t worry. By the way, the term you were searching for was ‘free of distractions’, not colorless,” Kazuya joked but made sure Jin got that he was happy by giving him a hug.

“Oh, and one other thing,” Jin said and reached for his pocket, taking out the flick knife. “From here on, keep this with you at all times,” he said and gave it to Kazuya, caressing his hand gently.

“So _that’s_ what we went to Koki’s to get”, Kazuya exclaimed and eyed the knife closely, “I was beginning to wonder what was going on in that basement. Not to mention that Fujiwara is the weakest and most anxious guy I’ve met since high school, a few minutes longer and we would have to sweep up the pieces of him off the floor.”

“He’s a coward,” Jin admitted and laughed. “But anyway, I think it’s necessary for you to have a weapon, I would worry my ass off if you were somewhere alone without any kind of protection.”

“So, you feel better now?” Kazuya enquired as he put the knife in his jeans pocket.

“Yeah. Just remember, if you want to kill someone, aim for the throat and lungs, the knife is too short to do any instantly fatal harm to the chest or stomach. If you want to strike and run, aim just below the armpits. Hurts like hell but doesn’t do any serious damage.” Jin instructed, demonstrating the correct places on his own body.

“Jin I’m eating, well it doesn’t bother me, but have some manners,” Kazuya lectured, returning to his pizza that had started to get cold.

“I had to tell you before I forget,” Jin pouted and slumped down beside Kazuya. “Stay safe,” he added and kissed Kazuya just below the jaw.

“I’m more worried about you and the others though,” Kazuya admitted, ”you could so easily be tricked into something... so promise me you wont head off somewhere without checking in with me first? He’s okay with me meddling but I’m not so sure what he feels about dashing police officers.”

“Don’t worry, we’re trained to deal with dangerous people,” Jin reassured and smiled. “I was the best at shooting in my class,” he added proudly.

“And Yamashita, what’s he trained in? Talking people’s heads off? Making a fool out of you?” Kazuya teased and completely gave up on finishing his pizza.

“You’ll definitely respect him a bit more when you see him fighting with someone,” Jin said and took the remains of Kazuya’s pizza, stuffing it to his mouth absent-mindedly. “I’m dangerous as well when I feel like it,” he said sunnily with his mouth full of pizza.

“If I were to guess what a cheesy pickup line is then I’d say something like that,” Kazuya said in revenge for being robbed of his food.

“Then it’s great I don’t have to hit on you anymore since you’re all mine already!” Jin said with a stupid grin and clung to Kazuya tightly, making the boy squeal at the sudden attack.

“Hey, you’re getting tomato sauce all over me!”

“Who cares,” Jin mumbled happily and curled up against Kazuya, placing his head on his lap. “I feel like cuddling you so I will despite the tomato sauce,” he continued firmly.

“You’re hopeless,” Kazuya answered in feigned irritation before he slumped back on the couch and tried to concentrate on the evening sports and news show they had ended up watching after Kazuya had begged a little.

“Tell me when this ends,” Jin said and closed his eyes, planning on taking a little nap on Kazuya’s lap.

“You’re not gonna watch it with me?”

“I’m not interested in sports and I deal with criminals and other fucked up stuff as a job, I don’t need to be reminded that the world is cruel at home as well,” Jin murmured with his eyes closed.

“Understood,” Kazuya answered and moved one hand to Jin’s shoulder, drawing small circles just like he remembered Jin to have done sometime he couldn’t quite place. It hadn’t really hit him before, that people might not feel better by knowing everything like he did. The unknown was what made him uncomfortable.

Jin smiled contently and snuggled closer against Kazuya before slowly falling asleep breathing in his scent.

The show was soon over, but Kazuya couldn’t really bring himself to waking the sleeping man up. He had woken him up this morning and he thought the other deserved some sleep, but at the same time he would probably be stiff as a plank if he sat in that position for a few hours longer. Slowly, managing to maneuver a pillow under Jin’s head, he got off the couch and headed to the kitchen in order to take care of that morning’s dirty dishes Jin had made him leave when they went out. When he got back to the Tv a while later Jin was still asleep and had curled up on one end of the couch.

Kazuya shook Jin by his shoulder, lightly and slowly like that morning, to wake him up,“Jin? It’s over now.”

Like every time Kazuya tried to wake him up and he disagreed he pulled his boyfriend down onto him and clung to him. “No more ice-cream,” he mumbled, still partially caught in his dream.

“I haven’t said anything about ice cream,” Kazuya chuckled and let Jin hug him, even though the couch was slightly too narrow to fit them both.

“Chocolate? Okay, just this time,” Jin continued to mumble and smacked his mouth once.

“Jiiiiin!” Kazuya whined and tried to wriggle his way out of the hug when the other didn’t seem to even try to wake up.

Jin frowned in his sleep and rolled over in order to avoid the loud noise, just to fall on the floor with a loud thump.

“WHAT, what?!” he yelled, startled, and sprang into a sitting position, blinking his wide puffy eyes and watching around sleepily, looking terribly much like an owl.

Kazuya could hardly keep from laughing out loud and held his hands across his stomach and wiped his eyes, “you’re clumsy too?” he asked.

“Shut up,” Jin growled and laid back down on the floor. He had been sleeping so comfortably he wanted to carry on, even if it was on the cold hard floor.

“Jin you told me to wake you up, I even waited for half an hour longer, don’t sulk.”

“I don’t wanna!” Jin said and pouted, throwing a mini tantrum on the floor.

“Suit yourself then, I’ll be taking off to the train station now,” Kazuya informed him and laid back on the couch, just waiting for Jin’s reaction.

“What, why?” Jin yelped and got up just to get on his knees beside the couch and watch Kazuya with his big fearful eyes.

“That’s the man I’m used to,” Kazuya announced and smiled wryly, “I’m not going anywhere, I just wanted to get you off that floor. See, I’m kinda clever sometimes.”

“Cruel,” Jin said and turned around to lean his back on the edge of the couch, beginning to sulk.

“Come on, if you’d rather sleep on that lumpy couch all alone, well then, be my guest,” Kazuya said and eased off it, going to the bathroom.

As soon as Kazuya was gone Jin crawled to his bag and started to delve it until he found the nicotine patches. He read the instructions with a frown and then hesitantly placed one on his arm. “Hope this works,” he muttered to himself.

When Kazuya came out a few minutes later Jin was leaning back against the couch, still sitting on the floor.

“What are you doing?” Kazuya asked as he sat down on the couch behind Jin.

“Nothing,” Jin answered with a languid smile and leaned his head back on Kazuya’s legs, enjoying the feeling of nicotine rushing to his veins. He fiddled the hem of his shirt lazily to make up for the lack of cigarette between his fingers.

“So you’re gonna keep doing that nothing for much longer?”

“What should I do, then?” Jin answered and turned his head a little drunkenly to blow air through the fabric of Kazuya’s jeans.

“Nothing,” Kazuya answered, feeling very proud of himself for thinking of a way to turn the whole thing around. “But I think I’m going to go to bed because I’m in desperate need of sleep by now.”

“Oh, okay,” Jin said and smiled. “Sleep well,” he added, testing if Kazuya would invite him along.

“Don’t ‘ _oh, okay_ ’ me, get up and come with me. I need a hug, or two,” Kazuya said, feeling his cheeks flush at his own audacity.

“If you want cuddling, just say so,” Jin said and chuckled before getting up and circling his arms around the boy. “Let’s go to bed then,” he said gently and kissed Kazuya’s cheek.

-

Kazuya bent forward and tugged at his left boot. After years of carrying the pick-lock kit in his right one he had gotten used to having something else against his right foot. Now he had to get used to it all over but with the knife Jin had given him. He couldn’t quite get comfortable on the worn out couch in Jin’s office and he couldn’t really concentrate on work either. A part of him was almost giddy and gleeful, but the other part was dead tired and his head felt heavy. Jin was off talking to Ando, probably getting yelled at, and Kazuya found himself wishing the other would be gone a bit longer, so he could get rid of this weird feeling before he returned.

After giving up on getting his ankle comfortable, he leaned back and reached for a file he had read a hundred times before, but got interrupted by a shy knock on the door.

“Come in,” he said with a raised voice, already suspecting who it was knocking that gently.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Koyuki said insecurely as she opened the door. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure, why not,” Kazuya answered, trying the hardest he could to keep the sarcasm out of the tone of his voice.

Koyuki paced in and timidly sat beside Kazuya, keeping her gaze strictly on her knees. She blushed and bit her lip. “It’s about Akanishi,” she finally said and gave Kazuya a quick glance.

“Oh, well... what about Akanishi?”

“I- Well, you two seem to be kind of close so I thought I could ask you... I’d ask Yamashita otherwise but he- Well, I don’t want to hurt him even though I’m not interested in him,” she babbled and cleared her throat, her blush getting deeper.

Kazuya raised his eyebrows and sat up properly on the couch, “Kato, what are you trying to say here?”

“Please, call me Koyuki like everyone else, I’m not used to being called by my last name,” she said quickly before falling silent again and letting her eyes travel shyly to look everywhere but towards Kazuya. “I had a talk with him when I got sick during that one meeting and he helped me out, I don’t know if you remember...”

“Yes, Koyuki,” Kazuya answered, wondering why on earth she was so diligent with her name, “I remember that event.”

“Well, he-” Koyuki stuttered a little. “He said that he has a crush on someone but he isn’t going to confess since it would only make it worse for her. And I was just wondering... Well, hoping that...” Koyuki hung her head to cover the deep red color of her face. “That maybe it would be possible that it was me,” she finished with a silent voice.

Kazuya opened his eyes wide and stared at her for a while, how on earth had she gotten that idea? There weren't really any obstacles towards Jin confessing his feelings to her if he had any. He wondered if Koyuki was bloody stupid on top of really shy.

“I... I can’t really say anything about that conversation, it was between you and him and I rather not meddle with things that concerns people’s private lives,” he finally answered after getting a hold on himself.

“Oh, I see... Of course I know that Jin is really friendly to everyone, I’ve known him ever since he began to work here. I just... I never got the courage to even think that I was special in any way since he always helps and comforts others, that’s why I started to like him in the first place. It’s just... Jin might not look like it but he always considers everyone else’s feelings before his own. I admire the way he can be so carefree and relaxed but when someone needs him, he becomes this strong caring person who forgets all about his own needs when facing someone in need. So I began to wonder, is there anyone who cares for him the same way he cares for everyone around him? And after some time I realized that I do. I want to make him happy.”

Koyuki was totally lost in her thoughts, a warm smile slowly spreading to her features when she could finally let out her emotions, even though her listener didn’t seem too enthusiastic to listen to her.

In fact, Kazuya was anything but enthusiastic, because that tired and worn-out part of him he had managed to suppress quite successfully the last week suddenly resurfaced once more, accompanied by that prickly and spiky thing that made his stomach clench. Every word Koyuki said cut into him like knives, realization after realization making him bury his face in the palm of his hands.

“It’s very nice of you, feeling like that,” he sighed and tried very hard not to break into a thousand pieces there in front of the poor woman. Kazuya now knew why he had been feeling so irritated by her, why he always doubted himself and why he couldn’t completely feel at ease when Jin wasn't around. Jin did act nice with everyone, he saved everyone, Kazuya wasn’t the only one to see his strong points... and there was a whole world of people out there who could cherish that far better than Kazuya ever could. Even Koyuki could.

“Thank you,” Koyuki said, obviously not seeing Kazuya’s discomfort. “So if there’s any possibility that Jin could answer my feelings, I want to hold on to it. I feel like his care is too much when I can’t give him anything in return since he never wants to burden anyone.”

“I’m sorry Koyuki, I really am, but I really feel uncomfortable discussing what is between you and Akanishi,” he retorted, feigning a smile after he had managed to look up at the beautiful woman sitting in front of him. She was such a sweetheart and there was no need taking his worries out on her.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you anxious. I know you’re very professional and me babbling about my feelings was very inappropriate,” Koyuki said apologetically and bowed to Kazuya. “I’ll avoid talks like this in the future, I should have known better. Sorry.” The secretary got up with a huge blush.

“Please, don’t tell Akanishi. I want to be sure about his feelings before thinking of making him notice mine. If he doesn’t feel anything for me, it would make him anxious since he wouldn’t want to hurt me,” she pleaded and bowed again.

“Don’t worry, I respect privacy as much as I respect professionality,” he said and smiled wider than he felt physically possible while his whole mind was in turmoil.

“Thank you. And I am sorry. Do your best with the case.” Koyuki half-ran out of the room, trying to cool her burning cheeks with the back of her hand, leaving Kazuya dazed on the small couch.

Of course he would be uneasy when Jin wasn’t there to remind him that he liked Kazuya. It was so obvious now and he wanted to hit himself for not noticing it earlier. Jin was a wonderful person, a person that needed so many things, who was older than Kazuya, who expected completely different things from life than the younger boy. The logical outcome would’ve been that Jin had met a nice girl, like Koyuki, gotten married and had a bunch of kids. If Jin hadn’t thought of that before, then Kazuya surely did for both himself and the other now.

Don’t be stupid Kazuya, he told himself, he’s really in love with you. But the doubt kept gnawing on him. He couldn’t even have sex with Jin, something he knew Jin wanted very much considering the way he almost devoured him every time they were alone. Maybe, if he tried really hard, then maybe he could manage to get his brain to tune out. He had to put at least as much as Jin put into the relationship, that’s just how things work. So Kazuya gave himself an ultimatum, if he hadn’t managed to sleep with Jin before the following morning, he should just bite the bullet and admit it to himself. Admit that he really wasn’t comfortable in the relationship, and that Jin deserved so much better than someone that couldn’t even be honest with himself.

He had one chance, no more.

-

“You’re really tense. Something wrong?” Jin asked and massaged Kazuya’s shoulders gently. They were at his place, watching TV like any stable, boring couple. His boyfriend had been awfully silent and avoided eye-contact. It made Jin worried but despite his best efforts, he couldn’t get the boy to blurt out what was wrong so he decided to finally ask.

“No, I mean yes but not really... not wrong that way,” Kazuya mumbled and turned around. Now was as good a time as any if he planned on making this work. He collected as much determination as he could and crawled closer to Jin, their faces so close he could almost count Jin’s thick eyelashes.

Here it goes, Kazuya thought and felt quite happy that he was finally making a move of his own. Before Jin could ask what he was up to, Kazuya leaned in those last few inches and kissed Jin, pouring all the feelings he had into it.

Jin uttered a surprised noise but didn’t push Kazuya away. He circled his arms around his boyfriend and answered the kiss gently, smiling to himself. Something Kazuya took as a good sign and made another of those decisions he suddenly knew how to make. He held Jin by his hand and stood up, pulling Jin to his feet with him.

“To the bed,” he motioned, and pulled Jin along as he slowly walked backwards.

“You’re sleepy already?” Jin asked in confusion and glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even nine yet. Was something bothering Kazuya and really tiring him out? Jin frowned worriedly.

“No,” Kazuya cooed and gave the other a wry smile, “I’m not even close to tired,” walking in through the bedroom door.

Jin followed, still frowning, to see what Kazuya was up to. He let the boy push him to sit on the edge of the bed and looked up questioningly to the boy standing in front of him.

The boy who was blushing slightly, walked closer so he could push Jin further down on the bed, until he was lying down, who then straddled him. Kazuya wasted no time, instead he started kissing Jin again, licking and nibbling, completely lost in that surge of need that had taken over. He loved the taste of Jin, the way Jin’s skin burned underneath his hands, the way Jin’s hands always knew where to wander.

Jin didn’t protest even though there was something different in the way Kazuya kissed him. He pushed the confusion aside and concentrated on kissing his boyfriend, his hands having a hold on his slim waist. He patiently let the boy dominate him to see where he was going.

While he leaned on his arms, Kazuya let his lips wander from Jin’s lips, kissing his chin and jaw, moving downwards until he reached the collar of Jin’s T-shirt. He hoped Jin felt as good as he felt doing it, because he could hardly stop himself from moaning. Something Kazuya realized was just stupid, he had nothing to hide, so he kissed his way to Jin’s ear, letting out that moan as he felt Jin shudder underneath him.

Jin gasped and leaned his head upwards, giving Kazuya full access to his neck and biting his lips when hearing the low vibration of Kazuya’s moan in his ear. He had a really hard time holding back and it took all he got to keep his hands on the boy’s waist instead of acting out his lustful urges and sliding down to the butt and thighs.

A struggle Kazuya picked up on, not at all happy about the placid way Jin was dealing with Kazuya’s advances. “Jin, I want you,” Kazuya whispered needyly in his ear, softly biting into the soft flesh as Jin had done to him before.

“Wha-?” Jin panted but was interrupted by the feeling of Kazuya’s teeth on his delicate earlobe. He let out a moan but restrained himself from giving in. He cupped Kazuya’s chin to guide his head up and look him in the face.

“Kazuya, don’t do anything you’re not ready for,” he said firmly, staring intensely into his eyes to see any hint of hesitation or pressure, not completely managing to hide his own lust from his gaze.

“I need this. I really, really need this,” Kazuya answered back, feeling desperate, it was this or... or nothing at all.

“Are you sure?” Jin asked one more time, not letting Kazuya break the eye-contact.

“I’ll never get more ready than this,” Kazuya answered, fully aware of the fact that it wouldn’t really make any sense to Jin, but for Kazuya it meant the world.

“Okay... Just- Just tell me if you want to stop at any point,” Jin hesitantly said before catching Kazuya’s lips in a gentle kiss.

Only managing to nod as Jin claimed his lips again, Kazuya gladly let himself get kissed, relishing in the way Jin dominated the kiss.

Jin carefully rolled over so Kazuya was underneath him with his thighs on each side of Jin’s hips. The kiss got more demanding as Jin slowly let his restraint be taken over by want. He pressed against Kazuya firmly, his tongue invading the boy’s mouth more eagerly than it had ever done before. His hands were finally acting out his urges, slowly sliding under Kazuya’s shirt to feel the bare skin underneath.

“Jin,” Kazuya moaned into the kiss and arched into the touch of the hands roaming his skin, leaving goosebumps as they moved.

Jin moved his mouth away from Kazuya’s lips and went downwards, kissing the neck heatedly. He sucked on the skin before wandering up to lick the boy’s earlobe. Jin breathed in his scent, almost predator-like, and his other hand slid down to finally settle on Kazuya’s butt while the other was slowly raising to his chest.

It felt incredibly good, so completely new and exciting, the way Jin knew exactly what to do. Kazuya moaned once more and pressed closer to Jin’s hips, a whole new part of his body awakening. And then his brain caught up with his body. He was almost completely hard, every touch and every kiss Jin planted on his skin made it even more obvious and Kazuya felt panic build up. It was with shaky breaths he felt that prickly thing appear in his stomach again, slowly spreading upwards to his chest, making it hard to breathe at all. He knew it, it was already over and there was no use in trying anymore. His brain knew he shouldn’t do this, it was so convinced about how wrong it was it refused to let Kazuya enjoy this anymore.

“Jin... Jin please-this-this isn’t working,” Kazuya stuttered and tried to back away on the bed, not managing to stop the tears that were collecting in the corner of his eyes.

Jin froze and collected everything that was left of his coherency in order to retreat and take a look at Kazuya’s face. What he saw tackled his breath. Kazuya was crying and it was his fault. He should have seen that his boyfriend wasn’t ready and protested more but instead he had selfishly followed his own desires and gotten too excited. Jin felt like a monster as he pondered what to do next. He rose to his feet, off the bed, and looked at Kazuya in shame.

“I’m so sorry, I never should have-” he started, feeling like a disgusting human being when feeling his erection pressed against the fabric of his jeans so it was nearly impossible not to see it. He wanted to go comfort Kazuya but at the same time he felt so dirty he didn’t want to lay a hand on the boy. He felt tears in his eyes but persistently held them back. This situation wasn’t for him to cry over, he needed to carry the responsibility for his mistakes. So Jin got up and forced his voice calm.

“I think it’s for the best that we sleep in different rooms. We need a little time of our own. I’ll be on the couch,” Jin said and forced a gentle smile. He took Condoriano from the bed and turned quickly to leave. He let his tears flow the minute he wasn’t facing Kazuya anymore.

No matter how much Kazuya wanted to run after Jin, to hug him and to explain it all to him, he felt relieved that he finally knew where he stood. It didn’t hurt as much as he had thought it would.

-

It had been awkward, sitting at the breakfast table, riding in the car with Jin, it also made Kazuya’s decisions falter because when he was with Jin everything felt so much better than real life usually did. Kazuya decided to stay quiet and not to lead Jin on in any way, maybe he needed to do some more thinking.

Completely caught up in his ponderings, Kazuya hardly noticed anything at all on the way to Jin’s office. He sure noticed the big envelope lying on the couch though, addressed to him. Feeling that slight tingle of thrill sweep through his body, Kazuya picked it up and opened it hastily, only to freeze when he noticed its content. Jin was kissing him, pressing him up against a car, on photographs so big and clear there could be no mistake about it. He was just about to drop them to the floor when he noticed a small white note in between them.

_Shh, it’s a secret, I made all the others promise not to say anything. I’m nice aren’t I my sweet little turtle?_

Jin had appeared behind Kazuya to see what had caused his look of horror, and his eyes went wide as he saw the content of the letter. “He followed us?” he asked, sounding startled.

“I think he has all the time,” Kazuya answered, flipping through the photos that got more provocative the further down in the stack he got.

“What will we do? Do you think he has-” Jin’s sentence was interrupted by a very furious Ueda Tatsuya dashing into his office.

“You fucking bastard!” Ueda shouted before he grabbed Jin by the collar and dragged him over to a wall. “How dare you do that to him?! How can you use him like tha-” he continued but the disgust he felt made his voice hitch. Even angrier than before, Ueda growled and hit Jin in the face as hard as he could.

Jin winced as he felt Ueda’s fist make contact to his left cheek, the strength proving just that the man really loved boxing. But he didn’t try to wriggle loose from his grip but instead glared at him.

“It’s not like I’ve been forcing him to do anything with me,” he hissed. “And if you think that I’m only using him, that just proves how little you know about me. Do you think I could ever do that?”

“I know you well enough! I let you go that time at the bar, I went easy on you because you were too drunk to make any sense at all, but I freaking wont turn a blind eye to this! Have you no idea how confused you’re making him? God, it’s like you’re banging a kid for crying out loud!” Ueda shouted back and lifted Jin further up the wall.

“Firstly: He’s twenty-two, old enough to be seen as an adult and most definitely mature enough to decide who he’s dating on his own. Secondly: I haven’t fucking banged him!” Jin yelled, using all his patience in order not to beat Ueda right there and then.

Before Ueda got a chance to lash out once more, Ryo came rushing through the door and pulled him away from Jin, “calm down Tatsuya!” he ordered while the other tried to break loose.

Jin coughed lightly and turned to Kazuya, who had been silent during the whole argument. “Just tell him I’m not using you,” he said to the boy, confused by the fact he had let all that happen just now. But Kazuya was still standing by the couch, looking at the note the killer had sent, his bangs covering his eyes, his lips drawn into a thin line.

“Kazuya!” Jin tried. “For goodness’ sake tell him how much I’ve been there for you so he understands!” His voice had dropped dramatically. Why didn’t Kazuya just explain? He felt tears of deceivement and desperation in his eyes, but pushed them back, remembering how Kazuya had told him he couldn’t stand seeing him cry. Plus, he didn’t want to appear weak in front of Ueda, their fight wasn’t over yet.

“He doesn’t seem unharmed to me!” Ueda hissed, he had calmed down enough so that he wasn’t trying to get loose from the grip Ryo had around his arms, but there was no doubt about the fact he still wanted to kill Jin.

“I-” Jin’s voice faltered. “It’s not like that,” he said, this time looking at Ueda pleadingly.

“Guys, let’s be reasonable about this will ya’?” Ryo asked, trying to mediate between his two friends, but also between his superior and his boyfriend, “Akanishi isn’t a bad guy and Kame isn’t stupid. Come on!”

“Kazuya,” Jin said one more time, his voice begging for the boy to speak up and defend their relationship.

“It’s... I-” Kazuya started but never finished the sentence. Instead he just sat down on the couch and took his glasses off so he could rub his eyes.

The door was slammed open once again with Koyuki running in. “I’m sorry, Kamenashi, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know that-” she started with the photos in her hand but fell silent the moment she saw the weird scenario with Ryo holding the hateful-looking Ueda, Kazuya looking utterly tired on the couch and Jin standing by the wall with a hint of bruise formed up on his face, looking like he was ready to burst out in tears any second.

“I’m sorry, did I interrupt something?” she asked with wide eyes, backing off a little.

Kazuya snorted from his place at the far corner of the room and put his glasses back on, “God you’re clueless,” he said arrogantly.

“I’m sorry,” she said faintly and bowed. “But you should’ve told me, I would’ve understood,” she said, a tiny hint of disappointment audible in her voice.

“And you should’ve kept off my back, Kato!” he hissed, covering the shame he felt for fooling the woman like that with incredibly ill-aimed anger.

Koyuki twitched at the tone Kazuya used. “I-” she started but lowered her head, starting to shake. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” she started but the voice trailed off to sobs.

Jin rushed to the secretary and circled a soothing arm around her, neglecting the pain he felt in his own heart. “Why are you so mean to her? She’s done nothing wrong!” Jin barked at Kazuya and petted Koyuki’s hair with his free hand.

“Because she’s stupid and now she’s trying to get me to feel guilty for it!” Kazuya lashed back while standing up, “and because this is who I am!”

“No it’s not,” Jin said back as calmly as he could. “Or if it is, that means you’re one good of a liar who wanted to play me for some reason,” he continued. “And don’t call her stupid, you don’t know her at all.”

“No, Akanishi, it’s alright. I better leave,” Koyuki mumbled between sobs and hiccups and dashed out.

Kazuya huffed before sitting down on the couch again, once more hiding his face. “I don’t have to know her, I don’t want to get to know her and I’m beginning to regret I ever came here!”

Jin’s eyes widened and he swayed for a moment, as if Kazuya had hit him with a baseball bat instead of saying the most hurtful thing Jin could imagine. He lowered his head and fought to keep his composure. “Nishikido,” he said with a forced calm and colourless voice. “You will take Ueda out now or you’ll respond to Matsumoto for refusing my orders.” Jin’s heart felt like it was delved out of his chest and stamped on the floor.

“Just don’t kill each other,” Ryo answered and dragged Ueda out of Jin’s office before he could add something.

Jin took in a calming breath, not sure if he was restraining himself from yelling at Kazuya or bursting out to tears. “What’s wrong?” he asked, keeping his head down and not even glancing at Kazuya.

“I just can’t think properly anymore, and there’s all these people now who’s gonna look at me like I’m even more of a freak than I already am,” Kazuya almost whispered.

“Are you unhappy with me?” Jin silently asked, his voice defeated. It was the only answer he saw, considering the way he had been hurt so many times because Kazuya wouldn’t open his heart but rather shut him out at times like this, when there was something troubling him.

“It’s more of a question if I ever can be happy, or even unhappy. I never was before, I was just Kamenashi Kazuya.”

Jin squatted down and thought, ignoring his own feelings and concentrated on Kazuya’s. Kazuya had come to love him so fast, or did he ever love him in the first place? Maybe he had just wanted to see if his feelings would deepen. Jin’s had, incredibly fast, but with Kazuya he couldn’t shrug off the feeling the boy never opened up to him. And he never would without coming to love him.

Or maybe... Jin closed his eyes and tried to hide the sting of pain striking his chest. Or maybe it wasn’t him Kazuya was meant to let into his heart? Maybe he wasn’t the person Kazuya would become happy with, no matter how much time they stayed together. Jin struggled to keep strong. If that was the case, what was the right thing to do? He loved Kazuya but it wasn’t enough. And to love someone meant that their happiness came before your own. He was happy with Kazuya but it held no importance. He needed to let go.

“Don’t give up,” Jin finally said quietly while standing up, not raising his head. He knew he couldn’t look at Kazuya without breaking down.

“Jin I...” Kazuya started once more, not seeming to be able to say much at all today.

“Don’t give up until you find that person you can be happy with. I know you’ll find that person, even though...” Jin raised his head and smiled sadly, “even though it’s not me.” And with that Jin walked out, stopping at the door. “Goodbye,” he said before wiping away a tear and then he was gone.

“See, it wasn’t working,” Kazuya whispered to himself in an empty room.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	10. Tricking the Lovefools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
>   
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate) (a.k.a. Rika).
> 
> Hello, Emi here again after a temporary hiatus. I've been a bit delayed in my attempt to upload all the chapters in a timely manner, so I apologise for the long wait. I hope this upload will cheer everyone up now that school and work is back after summer break/vacation to swallowing more and more of our time...😅 Have fun reading! I at least know that I'm being quite entertained while formatting the chapters - it has been quite a long time since Rika and I wrote this story and it's like I'm discovering it for the first time. Enjoy!✌️💕
> 
> Also, I did include warnings for "graphic depictions of violence" in the warnings for the work, and I tagged "blood and gore" and "minor character death", but if there are any other warnings you think I should've included in the work - or if there's something particular you want to ask about triggers or squicks - then please feel free to contact me (Emi).
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _April 20th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 10 - Tricking the Lovefools**

The priest, the rich woman, the company owner and now the fourth man. There had to be some common denominator, something that made the killer pick just those particular persons to prey on. It couldn’t be random, because they were nothing like what random victims usually looked like. They weren’t young women or people living in the far end of society, they were normal people with more or less normal lives.

Why would someone like Kazuya himself be bothered with them? Why would a complex brain loathe the mere thought of people like that? It didn’t make any sense.

It was almost noon and Kazuya had been sitting in front of his computers for hours, ever since he had given up on catching some proper sleep before the sun had gotten up. It was still hard thinking about anything but Jin, about yesterday, to feel anything but panic and sometimes, when he couldn’t really stand himself he almost reached for his phone lying on the desk in front of him. But no, he had fucked up enough already. There was no room left for running back in tears, begging for forgiveness.

Kazuya was just about to put a magazine over his phone so he couldn’t see it and be tempted when a few hasty knocks on his door broke the silence. It couldn’t be, he reasoned, there was no way that... No, he had to go check before he let his mind draw any conclusions. He got off the chair and stumbled over a few piles of books he had left on the floor the previous night, hurrying as fast as he could to the front door.

What he had not been ready for was who he found on the other side of his door.

“Yamashita?”

“You can keep the last remains of the respect I have for you by inviting me in,” Pi answered grimly, looking at Kazuya with hard eyes, not hiding his distaste.

Kazuya nodded and opened the door wider, letting Yamashita walk in before closing the door behind them. “You can sit down on the couch if you’d like,” he told the other but regretted he had the moment the words left his lips. This, obviously, wasn’t a social visit.

“Sit down...” Pi said and chuckled before exploding. “Sure, I’ll sit down while my best friend in the whole wide world has locked himself into his apartment and won’t utter a word! Sure, I’ll sit down, do you happen to have tea and cookies as well? How about a fucking picnic?!” he spat out furiously, looking more dangerous than Kazuya had ever seen him.

“Yamashita...” Kazuya started before leaning against his closed front door, the cool steel making his skin burn, “it didn’t work, okay? Jin saw it, I saw it, we all saw it coming. I don’t know what to say. I’m really sorry, but maybe the break up is for the best after all.”

Pi froze. “You broke up?” he asked, raising his eyebrows in feigned gentleness.

“Technically he was the one that broke up with me but... don’t look at me that way! I did my fucking best!” Kazuya hissed back. Yamashita’s way of making fun of him made his blood boil, it had from the very day they first met.

Pi walked towards Kazuya and stood still, frowning, looking almost like he was ready to say something. But instead he clenched his hand into a fist and punched Kazuya in the stomach as hard as he could.

“That’s why I fucking warned you not to take Jin’s feelings too lightly and think carefully whether your feelings are enough!” Pi yelled and backed off, leaving Kazuya folded on the floor in front of him. “Why did you get yourself into this in the first place? You knew Jin’s character, you knew your limited abilities to feel. You’re supposed to be smart. Then why in the hell couldn’t you do the simple math of your relationship not working before starting?!”

With much effort, Kazuya managed to force some air down his lungs, ignoring the way his eyes teared up and the numbing pain in his stomach. “Because I love him! Because I fell in love with him and I couldn’t stop myself!” he shouted back while staring up at the other from under his messy hair.

“Then why did you break up?!” Pi asked, a little taken aback but not softening yet. He couldn’t make any sense out of the situation.

It took a moment before Kazuya could collect himself again, before he managed to get back on his feet. Pi surely hadn’t spared any force in his punch, the boy could still see stars and making any sense out of his own feelings were made even harder than before.

“I... I can’t do it, the whole relationship thing. I can’t be intimate with him and I can’t stop feeling so nervous whenever he’s not with me, because there’s a whole world of people out there that would appreciate Jin a hundred times better than me. I just can’t let him throw away more time on something like me,” he explained both to himself and to Yamashita, because he was still doubting his decisions.

“And yesterday, when Ueda confronted Jin with this whole thing, I couldn’t bring myself to defend Jin. I just stood there, listening to my cousin say all those horrible things to Jin. So... I guess that was the last straw, what pushed him over the edge.”

Pi had been staring at the ceiling since the half of the rant. He had caught up with the situation pretty fast. “What? Finished whining already?” he said in feigned surprise. “Any other totally useless things you want me to listen to?” he said with full sarcasm and continued before Kazuya could interrupt.

“You,” he started calmly, “are a fucking idiot.”

“I might be, but I’m entitled to having my own feelings Yamashita, however ridiculous you find them to be. I’m a human being too!” Kazuya answered back, not able to hold back his tears anymore. No one even tried to understand him, no one cared and at this moment he felt more alone than he had in his entire life. Yamashita’s words felt like a knife stabbed straight into his heart.

Yamapi stuffed his pinky to his ear and scratched it in total boredom, watching Kazuya cry.

“Your idiocy doesn’t lie within your emotions, but your rationality. Did you even once stop to think that maybe it’s not up to you to decide what’s worthy for Jin to spend his life on? There’s a tiny difference between all the people that would appreciate him a lot more and you; Jin chose you, not them. That’s all. Make up already, I’m tired of this drama.” Pi yawned and walked to the door. “Ciao!” he yelled absent-mindedly before pacing out.

But not even Yamashita’s words could put Kazuya at ease, because this was the very reason Kazuya didn’t deserve Jin. Because Kazuya couldn’t even trust Jin’s judgement. He returned to his computers in silence, feeling his pain leave his body as he focused on codes and dead bodies, when his brain took over and he felt like himself again. I’m Kamenashi Kazuya, I major in psychology at university, I’m 22 years old and I’m a genius, he whispered to himself.

-

"Are you going to explain this or what?" Ryo asked, breaking the silence in the living room. The red evening sun was shining in through the windows, bathing everything in a warm daze. Kazuya looked up from the laptop he had in his lap and couldn't help to feel a bit touched by the way Ryo actually seemed to care.

"We dated, it ended... it's not as bad as Ueda might want it to look."

"You should explain it to him then, because he cried last night Kazuya, and I can't... I can't handle a crying Tatsuya."

Kazuya eyed the other, realizing he had never really looked at Ryo, he looked so broken under the strong surface, almost as dead tired as Kazuya himself felt.

He owed Tatsuya an explanation, if not only because he was the first person he was even close to love. Before Jin that was. He could hear that Ueda was unloading the dishwasher in the kitchen while listening to the radio and it made Kazuya wish that he could have this, that he could have a home.

It had been a nice and quiet dinner, the three of them more focused on the food than anything else, but now it was time to talk. With determination in his eyes, Kazuya put his laptop away and smiled at Ryo before walking out to the kitchen.

"Hey, we need to talk."

"You should've talked to me earlier, so I wouldn't have to hear things, to see things like that. I felt like a fool Kazuya, don't you trust me at all?" Ueda asked. He walked over and sat down at his kitchen table, indicating that Kazuya should do the same.

"Now tell me, how come you're suddenly doing things like that with Akanishi when you don't even have friends? It's a big step to take for you."

"It's such a long story Tat-chan, I just... I guess I fell in love, but it's over, you don't have to worry about it. I won’t ever do a thing like that again. I'll catch the killer and I'll graduate with top grades, don't worry okay?" Kazuya hurried to explain, not wanting his cousin to worry for his sake any longer.

"Kazuya you're entitled to more than that, I wasn't angry because I'm jealous, I was angry because I thought... well you've never really grown up," Ueda answered and reached out to hold Kazuya's hand, "you're still that boy who dreamed of beetles but caught butterflies for his cousin instead. Shit, I promised I wouldn't cry, I hate people that get all emotional like this..."

"I told Ryo to pick you up and bring you here for dinner because we're family, the three of us, and I don't want you to think that I find something you've done disgusting. If you like Akanishi then why don't you give it a proper try?" Ueda continued after wiping his eyes with the end of his oversized knitted cardigan.

Kazuya smiled while trying to look as reassuring as he could, he had a strong suspicion that he was as bad at handling Ueda crying as Ryo was.

"I don't think it'd be a good idea, you know me better than anyone, I'm not meant for things like that." Kazuya gently got his hand out of the grip Ueda had on his hand, "I don't want to feel like this anymore."

His cousin sighed, shaking his head. He really wanted Kazuya to be happy, but it seemed that the best way to do it was to let him be. Even though it was heartbreaking to see him shut everyone out.

"Okay, let's make this easy for the both of you then, I'm still not pleased about Akanishi laying his hands on you before he got my permission to date you, so I'll keep you out of the way from each other."

-

Jin felt like his eyes were on fire and he would suffocate from all the sobs that refused to stop forming in his throat. He was listening to the song he had heard that time in the cab with Chiaki. He had googled as much of the lyrics as he remembered just hours ago, when the situation hadn't fully dawned upon him. And now he was lying on his couch, Dido's soothing voice drawing one hysterical sob after another from him.

He, of course, had taken Condoriano in his arms the moment he had arrived home. Pi had come by earlier but Jin hadn't opened the door. He didn't want to speak to anyone, he didn't want to see Pi's eyes on him, saying ”I told you so”. He just wanted to curl up and cry until there was nothing left to come out. Then he would go to work and keep his mask on. Jin didn't want Kazuya to see how hurt he was, he didn't want the boy to feel bad for something that wasn't his fault. Kazuya couldn't help the fact Jin wasn't the right one for him.

Jin loved Kazuya. And because of that he didn't want to make Kazuya feel guilty. He would be strong, take care of his duties and help his ex-lover catch the killer in all ways possible. That, after all, was Kazuya's priority number one.

”But it hurts so much,” Jin silently said to Condoriano and buried his head to the pillow before bursting out some more tears. ”Well, better to cry it all out now, right?”

Suddenly Jin felt something vibrating against his thigh. He groaned and took his ringing cell phone out, ready to press the red button, concluding it was Pi calling. Once he saw the caller-ID, he frowned in confusion. He turned down the volume of the music and picked up the call, wondering what on Earth Koyuki could want from him.

”Yeah?”

”A-ah, Akanishi?” Koyuki said insecurely. ”I'm behind your door but apparently your music is so loud you couldn't hear me. Can I come in?”

”I-I'm not sure if you should,” Jin muttered. He didn’t want the secretary to see him in such a weak state.

”I'm sorry for your argument, it was all my fault!” Koyuki exclaimed, sounding ready to burst out in tears, apparently thinking Jin was mad at her.

”What? No, it wasn't your fault, you had nothing to do with it!” Jin hurried to say, now completely turning off the music.

”Actually I did,” Koyuki said miserably. ”We had a talk with Kamenashi the day before yesterday.”

”Huh?” Jin was confused and wiped away some tears. ”What about?”

”It was, well... Can I come in, I feel kinda awkward talking about this in the middle of the hallway,” Koyuki said and let out a sound pretty close to a chuckle, a very miserable one at that.

”Okay, sure,” Jin said and hung up, opening his front door a couple of seconds later.

When Koyuki saw Jin's tear-stained face, she clapped a hand on her mouth, looking upset. ”I'm so sorry!” she said.

”Come on in, let's talk after that.”

Koyuki took off her shoes and tiptoed to Jin's kitchen. She sat down timidly at the table, keeping her gaze on its wooden surface.

”I... I went to talk to Kamenashi the day before yesterday when you were talking to Ando. I wanted to ask about you,” Koyuki started, her head lowered in shame.

”About me?” Jin frowned and sat down beside the woman.

”Yes, I couldn't get the talk we had out of my head, the one about your crush on someone and... I'm so sorry, I didn't know! I- I asked Kamenashi if there were any chances it could be me,” she finished miserably.

Jin was in amazement for a while before the words sank in. ”Huh? You...”

”I like you,” she confessed silently. ”But it doesn't matter. What matters is that I didn't know that it was him you meant and I messed everything up. But I didn't mean to!” she raised her gaze to Jin, looking pleading.

Jin was going through all he had just heard and thought of which part to talk about first. Finally he sighed and smiled.

”Koyuki, it's not your fault. You didn't know and our break-up wasn't because of you but because of entirely different reasons. We had this coming long ago.”

”You- you broke up?” Koyuki asked in shock.

”Yes, but because I wasn't the right one for Kazuya, not because he was jealous of you or anything. Trust me,” Jin said gently and smiled. ”And about your feelings... I'm sure you understand that it's impossible, I'm too in love with Kazuya. I'm sorry.” Jin smiled apologetically.

”No, don't apologize, I realized it already and I- I'd just hope we could still be friends after all this?” she asked carefully.

”Of course we can,” Jin laughed. He liked Koyuki. Not in the way the woman seemed to like him but he thought she was a really good and gentle person. And she most certainly hadn’t deserved the hatred Kazuya had expressed to her.

”How are you feeling?” Koyuki asked compassionately.

Jin's smile froze. For a minute there, he had been so caught up in Koyuki's worries he had forgotten his own aching heart. But with the woman's question the pain came rushing back.

”I...” he started but couldn't continue before he was once again trapped by a rush of emotions, coming out in the form of tears. Jin sniffled and swallowed.

”I miss him. I think I'll always miss him. But it wasn't me. It was never me he was meant to love,” he sobbed and buried his head to his hands.

”Jin- I mean, Akanishi,” Koyuki started but Jin interrupted her.

”You can call me Jin. We're even then since I always call you just Koyuki,” Jin said and raised his head to smile weakly at the secretary.

”Okay, then... Jin, what would you say if I go buy some tea and cigarettes?” she smiled, looking more confident than a minute ago. Jin concluded that this situation wasn't something entirely new for the woman. Apparently she was very used to comforting people with broken hearts and Jin could see why. Her gentle presence automatically calmed people down.

”Sure, I have no one to quit smoking for anymore anyway. Lucky Strike.”

”Gotcha.” Koyuki smiled and left.

They spent the whole night just sitting, smoking and talking. Jin gave Koyuki his bed and slept on the couch, feeling a tiny bit better by the fact that there was at least one person in his workplace who would help him to keep his mask on when it would falter.

-

“Just stay close to me, Tatsuya won't forgive me if he hears that I’ve let you out of my sight,” Ryo said firmly, but flaunted his characteristically wide predatory grin. He got a slight nod from the boy as an answer. There would be no scenes, no drama, just professionalism and a calm day at work, Kazuya thought. Horikita had called that morning to say that the preliminary forensic reports and the autopsy was finished, so Ueda sent Ryo to accompany Kazuya at the station after a hasty breakfast.

They were both heading towards the basement of the police station, where Horikita had her lair, when Kazuya heard Jin’s voice soar down a hallway. He was laughing, that much Kazuya could tell, and there was suddenly another laughing voice accompanying him - Kato’s voice. She was whining “Jin” at some teasing words, calling him by his first name.

“Kazuya? Are you coming?” Ryo asked, he hadn’t noticed the happy pair coming down the hallway at their left yet. His voice snapped Kazuya straight out of his daze, making him hurry to catch up with Ryo, trying to almost hide behind him as they continued to the elevators.

She had called him Jin. They had laughed and they sounded so carefree. Kazuya had been so sure that he’d at least be distraught for a few days, that Kazuya would be missed because Jin had loved him. He had right? Normal people would cry and cry and he knew Jin would. It confused him, that maybe he didn’t have as much impact on Jin as he had thought.

“Tell me what it is or I’ll call Ueda and he’ll drag himself out of the boxing gym and come get you even if his days off there are holy,” Ryo threatened when they were standing in the elevator moving downwards.

“It’s... Jin was in that corridor we passed with Kato, I mean Koyuki, he sounded happy,” Kazuya admitted, staring straight into the elevator’s wall of stainless steel.

“Kazuya, sounding happy and being happy are two completely different things.”

Kazuya gave Ryo a quick look and sighed, “I know, I know.”

A heavy silence settled between the two and stayed there up until they reached Horikita’s premises.

Horikita was sitting on her usual chair and listening to music. She got up without any hurry when she noticed them, and waited until Ryo and Kazuya had reached her before bowing.

“Oh, it’s Mr. Oompa-Loompa and Mr.-” Horikita stilled and frowned. “How often do you change your aura nowadays, human child?” she asked, sounding almost offended by the fact Kazuya dared to consume her senses with his mood swings.

“You could just stop calling me things and use my name,” Kazuya answered, not really feeling up for arguing.

“Nonsense. Names are useless, they don’t describe people at all, it’s just a thing your parents decided to call you when you were pulled out of your mother’s womb, all slimy and crying like a little demon. There’s no way a name could ever serve any purpose,” Horikita snapped.

“Could you please stop painting images like that,” Ryo barked, “I just ate breakfast.”

“Yet you decided to come to see our little friend here right after, Mr. Oompa-Loompa?” Horikita asked with her eyebrows raised. “I think there’s something you should see about the body,” she continued.

“Oh?” Kazuya asked, curiosity taking over, ”what is it?”

“Come here,” Horikita said and walked further to the morgue into a room where the latest victim was lying under a sheet.

“You remember how he was found with his shoes on, right? And how he was hanging so low his feet were brushing the ground?” Horikita asked, obviously going somewhere with it.

“Yes, I saw him. He must’ve choked to death considering he couldn’t have broken his neck in that short drop,” Kazuya answered anxiously.

“Well, I came across a little surprise when I took off his shoes,” Horikita said and pulled the sheet off, revealing the naked body.

“His toes were smashed with a heavy object, I’d say maybe a hammer, before he was hanged. And after examining the toes I came to the conclusion that it’s very probable he had to stand on them for a long time. So he apparently tried to save his life by staying on the tip of his broken toes until it got too painful or he fainted from the loss of oxygen.”

Kazuya hardly noticed when Ryo made a choking noise behind him and rushed out of the room. He thought the body was beautiful. The way the man’s chest was folded open, dark red contrasting the pale skin. He didn’t panic about it anymore, he decided that maybe, if he just let go of everything completely, he might understand the mind of the killer.

The victim’s feet were indeed badly beaten, he could see how it would be a torturous task trying to save his own life. It also meant that while Kazuya was falling asleep in Jin’s arms after eating their unplanned dinner, this man had been fighting through unbearable pain, trying to stay alive, hoping that maybe somehow he’d get saved.

“That is another innovative way of killing a victim, our killer is picking up speed and skills,” Kazuya said, admiring the sight in front of him.

“It certainly is,” Horikita agreed.

“And there’s also a gunshot here below the armpit. This killer definitely knew where to shoot so it hurts but doesn’t do any actual damage. This is probably a warning shot when the victim refused to cooperate.”

“That is brilliant, we’re starting to get to know him much better now. Any other damages inflicted on the body?”

“Nothing outstanding really, marks of a fight, some bruises and so on, and then of course the hanging,” Horikita concluded. “I just thought that you would want to see these for yourself, Mr. Demon-Child. I assume you want the autopsy report as well? Or should I give it to Akanishi instead?”

“No, I’ll take it,” Kazuya hurriedly said, “and what’s with the “Demon-Child”-thing?”

“It’s useless to call you by your aura, it changes all the time,” Horikita simply said. “Has the killer contacted you after the photos?” she asked casually. “I mean, if I were you I’d complain and tell him to choose a little better angle next time. You both look slightly porky in the photos I got yesterday,” Horikita said without even blinking her eyes.

“You-you’ve seen them?” Kazuya stuttered. Somehow he had been sure she hadn’t considered how secluded she was in her part of the building, now when he knew that she had he felt terribly naked.

“Of course I have. Ms. Sweetheart kindly brought me my mail yesterday morning and the photos were sent to me. Mr. Bad-Puns got copies in slightly better quality, though,” Horikita said and sighed, as if she was sorry for the fact Taguchi had gotten better copies.

“And you’re okay with it? I mean, I think half of the station was staring at me when I passed the cafeteria earlier... and you don’t care how I got to get invited into this investigation?” Kazuya asked, feeling stumped by her carefree attitude.

“Listen, human child,” Horikita was suddenly sounding determined instead of dreamy or absent-minded. “Love is one of the few things that is pure in this world anymore. Love comes and goes but when you’ve got it, hold on to it without caring whether the world accepts it. As long as the other person accepts, it’s all you need to be happy. Love is the greatest source of mana. Besides, I knew that you would have something there in your love life and I told you that, Mr. Demon-Child, why would I be surprised to find out my fortunes come true?”

Horikita delved out a pack of chocolate and stuffed some into her mouth, munching in content as if she hadn’t just held a deep speech to Kazuya.

“Well, you could say that it left again, so I don’t think you’ll be seeing me with Akanishi anymore. You’ll have to go through Nishikido or Ueda if you want to reach me,” Kazuya explained. He didn’t even try to understand her long speech, he didn’t want to hear anything more about love.

“Shame, I think that Mr. Demon-Child matches well with Akanishi,” Horikita said. She looked like she was about to continue but stilled, closing her eyes, and frowning in deep concentration, as if she was suddenly sensing something that pained her. Suddenly she opened her eyes and smiled, as if she had just received a happy prophecy. She grabbed Kazuya’s hand to examine his palm in excitement.

“What?” Kazuya asked, having a hard time not getting carried away by her dramatic presence. He wondered if this was how other people usually reacted to her, while he usually was highly suspicious.

“Your story is not over, not even nearly,” she said, keeping her eyes on Kazuya’s palm. “I see a little crack but it’s undeniable that your first love is the one you’ll stay together with. I see a lot of loving feelings and sexual attraction ahead.” She let go of Kazuya’s hand and smiled. “Don’t worry, the great oak spirit gave me a message just now, saying that he will watch over you guys. I just had to confirm it from your palm.” Horikita looked like she was waiting for Kazuya to sigh in relief or hug her happily for the pleasant news.

Kazuya had a hard time keeping from laughing at her, “seriously Horikita, this is beyond repair. I won’t be Mr. Love-Aura again, you’ll just have to get used to calling me a demon child. I don’t want to hurt Akanishi one more time.”

“Akanishi still loves you, Mr. Demon-Child. It’s so evident, I can sense his loving aura all the way here,” Horikita said before stuffing a huge piece of her chocolate to Kazuya’s mouth without a warning.

“That’s beyond the point,” Kazuya mumbled, not sure if he felt more disturbed by the fact that he was eating her chocolate as happily as she were or by the fact that she claimed Jin loved him that much.

“No it’s not. You still love him, I can see from your aura, Akanishi still loves you, it’s impossible to miss. But you both have very intense pain and sorrow attached to your love. Get rid of the pain by getting back together and have a daughter. Akanishi is so daughter-type when it comes to kids,” Horikita babbled looking somewhere behind Kazuya absent-mindedly.

“Stop, rewind and delete. Quit planning my life for me the way I most certainly don’t want it to end up,” Kazuya said cooly, trying to keep from getting angry, “I’ll go find Nishikido now, so if you would please give me the autopsy report so I can leave.”

“Oh, but it’s just the truth,” Horikita said before giving the file to Kazuya. “Please make sure Akanishi sees this as well. Have a nice day, Mr. Demon-Child,” Horikita said before stuffing yet another piece of chocolate into Kazuya’s mouth.

What was it with all these people? Trying to get them back together when he made it clear that he had no plan of doing so? Kazuya angrily chewed the chocolate as he went on search for Ryo, finding him by the elevator looking pale as the corpse himself.

-

”So, what's your version of the break-up?” Pi asked once he had hijacked Jin from one of the hallways and dragged him to his office after apologizing to Koyuki on a side note.

”What do you mean _my version_?” Jin frowned. He didn’t quite feel like discussing this with Pi yet, with he felt like he would have to defend himself and his decision since his best friend wouldn’t approve it.

”I already heard the runt's version, now I want to know yours.”

”You what? Pi, don't tell me you-” Jin put his hands on his face and let out a frustrated sigh.

”Well excuse me for getting worried when you just suddenly entrench yourself into your flat and when I try to knock you just turn that gay music of yours louder.” Pi rolled his eyes.

”Sorry,” Jin mumbled.

”So, what happened?”

”He wouldn't open up to me so I realized that I wasn't the one he was meant to love. We broke up. End of the story.” Jin tried his all to sound indifferent but Pi could still clearly see how raw his heart was by the loss. Pi scratched his head, pondering. He wasn't exactly waiting for the words Jin had just said.

All in all, it seemed to be a great misunderstanding. He smiled to himself joylessly and fought back the urge to tell Jin everything he had heard from Kazuya. It wasn't his job to clear up the misunderstanding, the two idiots needed to do that on their own, otherwise they would just find themselves in a similar situation again in no time. They needed to realize that their relationship would never work if they didn't learn how to talk about their feelings and problems. At the moment Jin was acting like the white knight sucking in his feelings whereas Kazuya was anxious about his emotions and shut them out, occasionally erupting.

”Did he directly tell you you're not the one?” Pi finally asked.

”He said that he can never be happy with me,” Jin said, wincing at the memory.

”What are you going to do now?”

”Continue my life and work. Push this all aside. _Never talk about this again_.” Jin said, emphasizing the last sentence. ”I don't want him to worry about me so we'll all act like it never happened. Got it?”

Pi facepalmed mentally but nodded. His friend was one big idiot and Pi knew it wasn't all over yet between those two. Pi acted like he agreed on Jin’s plan but what he didn’t tell was that he wasn’t planning on leaving things as they were, not in a million years. So as soon as Jin had exited the room Pi took out his cell phone and searched the one contact he thought he was never going to use but at that moment was thankful to have.

-

Kazuya knew even before he had told Ryo to drop him off at the university after work that this was a bad idea, but he wanted to get it all off his chest. So about an hour after his disturbing conversation with Horikita he found himself, once again, lying on Ooshima’s couch.

“Again? What now,” Ooshima asked and took out her notebook. She tilted her head and gazed at Kazuya, who had marched to her office without a word and laid down. “You sure have problems living with other people,” she continued, obviously not pleased by the way Kazuya kept bothering her.

“That’s the thing. I can’t do it anymore, he noticed and it’s over,” Kazuya answered, ignoring Ooshima’s apparent dislike.

“And why can’t you do it anymore?” Ooshima asked, drawing circles to her notebook in boredom.

“He cries Ooshima, whenever I do something, he cries. And I just keep doing things, because I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. Jin is just amazing, and I can’t handle it, I’m constantly treading water while he could be soaring past me at any moment. I can’t even handle him touching me, that’s not fair to him. I know, you’re going to tell me I’m an idiot, everybody seems to be doing that lately, but this is how I feel. I don’t think I want it anymore.”

“You don’t want it anymore because you don’t understand him and can’t handle him touching you or you don’t want it because you don’t love him after all?” Ooshima asked, already writing her conclusions to the notebook.

“I’m in love with him, don’t get me wrong here. I can’t... I could probably break down and cry right now if I let myself, but that won’t help me...” Kazuya said with a big sigh, “I can’t understand anything about relationships. One moment I’m doing good and the next it’s a catastrophe.”

Ooshima threw him a long glance behind her notebook. “After these so-called catastrophes, do you talk about them and sort them out? Or do you just enjoy the good moments when you can and then just feel miserable after a downhill just to feel happy when there’s a moment when everything seems to be fine again?”

“There hasn’t been much room for talking things through... I made a deal with myself you see. If I couldn’t trust myself with Jin for a night, then I would just do what my head keeps telling me and back off,“ Kazuya tried to block out the memories of how hurt Jin had looked after he had panicked once more, how he could just tell that Jin was blaming himself again, “I don’t want to be that person that has to be taught things, that he has to wait for and that always gets things wrong. I want him to have someone that’s not this confused.”

Ooshima was digging some lema out of her eye while Kazuya was talking. When he was done, she leaned forward, placing her chin on her hand. “And how did you exactly break up?”

How it had happened? Kazuya wasn’t even sure himself anymore. He just desperately grasped after every reason he could think of to justify his decisions.

“It’s more or less because of this, I didn’t stand up for him when Ueda confronted Jin with it,” Kazuya finally answered, pulling out the envelope with the pictures they had been sent by the murderer from his bag.

“Who sent those photos?” Ooshima asked with raised eyebrows, “and why didn’t you defend your relationship?”

“The killer we’re after sent them to the whole station... I just couldn’t stand it, knowing that this is what everyone is going to see from now on. And when Ueda attacked him I just felt numb, I couldn’t get a word out and I felt so terrible. I still do.”

Kazuya had to take a calm breath to stop his feelings from bursting through, he just needed to get through this conversation and then he could put it behind himself.

“Why would he do something like that?” Ooshima asked herself, pondering the photos before straightening up. “Anyway, how did Akanishi react? Was he mad? What did he say before you broke up?”

“He said I should find someone else, someone meant for me, but I don’t want anyone else... I just want- I don’t know what I want anymore.”

“Okay, let’s have a brief overview. You don’t want to be together with Akanishi because you can’t understand him and because of that you think someone else is better for him. He broke up with you because he thinks you don’t love him enough. Right?” Ooshima put her pen down.

“I guess?” Kazuya answered. It sounded even more horrible after someone had said it out loud.

“Idiots. You’re all idiots and I’m beginning to wonder if there’s anyone in the whole station who has even a tiny bit of brain. Well, that friend of Akanishi’s isn’t that bad but the rest... Now you’ll listen to me. I can tell you what your problem is but it’s not an easy one to solve and to solve it you need to step out of your comfort zone. Do you still want to hear it?”

The tone of Ooshima’s voice scared Kazuya a little, she sounded just like she usually did when she was taking on a whole room of people in a debate, like if she was gearing up for war.

“I’m screwed anyway, so you can just as well tell me,” he said tiredly.

“Both of you have the same problem: you whine about your relationship to everyone else besides each other. Here’s the deal: love doesn’t make everything work and feelings are not the only things that matter in a relationship. As far as I know, neither you or him can read thoughts so the only way to know what’s going on in each other’s head is to ask and discuss. You don’t understand Akanishi because you rather let things be than ask, Akanishi left you because he came to stupid conclusions on his own without discussing with you beforehand.

When he cries because of you, you need to ask what you did wrong and he needs to tell. If you really think that all your crises just somehow magically disappear if you play nice and pretend they never happened, they will pile up until you feel insecure enough to erupt. And that’s exactly what happened, or am I wrong?” Ooshima observed Kazuya with merciless eyes, looking almost ready to get up and kick him in the ass.

“No, you’re right,” Kazuya admitted and sat up on the couch, collecting his things, “but it’s too late, I already screwed up,” he added before getting up to walk out of Ooshima’s office.

“So you give up before you even try even though you know perfectly well that if you sat down and talked things through you could go home together to cuddle or whatever it is that lovebirds do these days?” Ooshima asked with a mildly irritated but also partially amused expression.

“Maybe, I’m not sure. I need to think things through, get this case solved and then perhaps... I just need to breathe and to sleep. And to run.”

“So now you claim you can really sleep properly without that airhead?” Ooshima asked and laughed. “You’re amusing. Get out of here, I’m waiting for a call. I’ll inform you later about what I want as a reward for this session.”

It was funny, Kazuya thought as he closed the door to her office, how she managed to pinpoint problems he wasn’t even aware of himself. He hadn’t been able to sleep properly last night, or the two nights before that.

Ooshima picked up her phone like she had been waiting for the call, “took you long enough,” she answered irritatedly.

“Get your ass here, we need a plan.”

-

Kazuya wondered how inappropriate this was, him waiting in a restaurant for Ooshima. At least she had the decency to reserve a private room for them, he didn’t know how he’d react if someone they knew would turn up. She sure had weird ways of getting paid for her therapy sessions. An hour after he had left her office she had called and told him to buy her dinner at her favorite restaurant, so here he was. At least it meant that he could have a few hours aways from Ueda who had been following him like a hurt puppy since the breakup two days ago. Mostly in the form of forcing Ryo to be Kazuya’s personal driver.

Sighing for the umpteenth time he picked up the menu and tried to decide whether if he wanted to eat anything at all, his appetite had gone down the drain with his sleep once more. Why was she taking so long?

-

Jin got out of his car and took his time smoking a cigarette before heading towards the restaurant. He was feeling rather alright, well, as alright as he could in that situation. Koyuki had supported him the whole day, taken time to come to the roof to smoke and helped him keep his mind off Kazuya the best she could. And at the same time Jin felt bad since Koyuki liked him and yet he made the secretary help him get over his broken heart.

“Selfish me,” Jin sighed to himself and stepped into the restaurant. Pi had called him earlier, told him that he had won two free meals in this place and Jin had no complaints. It was a fancy place, full of classy salarymen eating dinner with their wives or mistresses. Luckily Pi had reserved a private room, he couldn’t have stood seeing couples all cuddly and happy right now.

Jin patted his empty stomach and stepped into the room a waitress pointed to him, just to freeze on the spot when seeing the person sitting there and waiting. It wasn’t Pi. A look of horror spread on Jin’s features and he was just about to dash out when Kazuya turned and he was trapped.

“Jin? What are you doing here?” Kazuya asked, apparently as shocked as Jin himself.

“I- Pi won two free meals and I-” Jin fell silent. A tiny hint of suspicion made its way to his mind. “What are you doing here?” he finally asked.

“I’m here because I got played by Ooshima, and you by Yamashita it seems,” Kazuya said before laughing a little to himself, “they just love to meddle, don’t they? You can leave or join me, neither Yamashita nor Ooshima will be coming if my guesses are correct.”

Jin gazed around in confusion, looking lost. Should he leave? He would only hurt himself further if he sat down. But then again, by leaving he would hurt Kazuya’s feelings and make clear that he wasn’t alright with their break-up. He pondered for a second before faking a cheerful smile and sitting down. Just be remote and friendly and stick to your mask, he told himself.

“Those two rascals,” he said lightly and grabbed his menu. “I’m starving, guess this restaurant is too classy to have pizza.” Jin forced a laugh.

“And if they had it they’d probably force you to eat it with your knife and fork,” Kazuya joked but kept his eyes off Jin, he didn’t know how to handle this. He wanted to talk things through with Jin, but the hard part was how to get the talking going. “Don’t worry about the prices, I’m buying. It’s the least I can do after... anyway, pick whatever you want.”

“Nonsense, I can pay for myself. I’m not that poor you know,” Jin immediately answered, swallowing the last part of the sentence - I don’t need your pity.

“Okay, I wasn’t insinuating anything. I just thought that it’d be nice of me to buy you dinner, that’s all,” Kazuya mumbled, picking up on Jin’s defensive attitude.

A heavy silence fell on them and Jin was wriggling on his chair uncomfortably, feverishly thinking about a light topic to discuss, just to be interrupted by his phone ringing.

“Oh, excuse me,” he hurried to say and answered without checking the caller-ID.

“Hello?” he said and listened for a moment. Kazuya could hear it was an enthusiastic female voice. “Wow wow, calm down!” Jin said and laughed a little, concentrating on listening to the person on the phone.

Kazuya tried not to get too interested in Jin’s call, but it was very hard to avoid since he stayed in the room while talking. It was obvious that it was a woman calling, and Jin seemed to be very fond of her, laughing and smiling. Maybe it was Koyuki, Kazuya thought to himself and it hurt more than he would want it to. If it was then there wasn’t any use in him trying to talk things through with Jin, he had no right forcing Jin back into something he seemed to be much better off without.

“I’m kinda busy right now, can I call you back later?” Jin finally said. “Yeah, I know I forgot last time but I’ll remember now, I promise. Okay bye.” Jin ended the call and shook his head with a smile.

“That woman, try to figure her out,” he said gently to himself.

“What? I thought Koyuki was more or less straightforward?” Kazuya asked in confusion before he could stop himself. The moment the question left his lips a faint blush appeared on his cheeks.

“Huh? Koyuki?” Jin asked in confusion. Before he could regain his mask, he had already chuckled and smiled happily. “It wasn’t Koyuki, silly, but my mum. No need to be je-”Jin cut the sentence and cleared his throat, he too blushing.

If Kazuya could have done it he would’ve sunk through the floor, this was more or less the epitome of embarrassing moments.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have eavesdropped... Of course it was your mother...”

“She lost some weight and just had to call me because of it,” Jin said and couldn’t help laughing a little at his mother. “Ever since I was little she was always on diet, trying to lose weight but still every now and then I caught her eating potato chips and ice-cream secretly,” he babbled, trying to fill the silence.

“So you’re close with your mother? If she calls you to tell you about losing weight I mean,” Kazuya asked, trying his hardest to be civil and social.

“I guess. But she also loves gossiping so I think that she’ll call at least seven other friends and force my dad to take pictures of her standing on the scale as a proof. Sometimes it’s tiring how she calls to tell that the neighbor’s young lady had a companion for the night or there was a shoplifter caught in a shop nearby. She lives on gossips and babbling,” Jin said and relaxed a little, smiling at his silly mum.

“That sounds... nice I guess, that she likes to talk to you,” Kazuya remarked, happy that the waiter arrived with their drinks and took their orders and interrupted his senseless tries to collect enough courage to really talk to Jin.

“My dad can be more irritating though, he calls me sometimes when he’s drunk just to cry and sing some terrible classic songs,” Jin answered, deciding to talk more about his family instead of letting an awkward silence take over.

“He cries?” Kazuya asked with big eyes. the thought of a grown man, a father, crying was totally new for him, “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that, it's just... forget about it.”

“He cries a lot, my mum cries, too, and my sister. When I was a kid we watched some really sad movies together and just cried in a huge bunch,” Jin said and laughed. “I think I’m the one who cries least out of my family. We’re weird, I know,” he added, not bothered by the subject at all.

“No, I’m just not very experienced in family-life, that’s all,” Kazuya answered, sipping on his drink. It was interesting, getting to know Jin through his family like this.

“You’re not? What kind of family do you have, then?” he asked before he could stop himself. He was too curious to know about the boy’s childhood and family.

“Right now? I’d say that right now my family is Tatsuya and Ryo. I have parents, and grandparents too, but we only meet at festivals and celebrations and such. I lived with Ueda in an apartment all through high school. I don’t really see eye to eye with dad, and my mother... well, I think she’s sad that I turned out this way, even though she keeps up a strong facade.”

Kazuya didn’t know if it was a good idea telling Jin this, he knew very well how people would normally react to his life story. But he wanted to talk to Jin and then it was important that Jin knew where he stood, who he was.

“So they don’t call you or anything, you’re just permitted to live off your father’s money?” Jin asked, nodding in understanding. He was a cop, he saw life stories like these all the time, parents and kids who didn’t meet. It was sad, but somehow it made sense with Kazuya and the way he was.

“I think my grandfather threatened to kick him out of the company if dad didn’t let me do what I wanted,” Kazuya explained and started playing with his fork a bit absentmindedly, “so yeah, I leech off them. I was going to study physics and math at university at first but then it wouldn’t be far off for me to involve myself in the family business, so I picked psychology instead because my dad has no use for that. I like it that way.”

“It’s good you made your own decision and stayed off the family business, if that’s not what you want to do with your life,” Jin said and smiled. “Do you have any siblings?” he asked, though he could really imagine Kazuya being the only child.

“No, Ueda has a bunch of sisters though, they’re all married and live all over the world with their rich and boring husbands.” He knew that Tatsuya sometimes missed them terribly, they were very nice girls, just as lovely as rich girls should be.

“Well, you should be thankful you don’t have any younger sisters,” Jin laughed, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. “It was really tiring to be a big brother and throw out some lousy guys from my sister when she was a teenager. My dad delegated me the job.” He chuckled at the memory of him driving through Tokyo looking for his little sister who had once again run away from home to party.

“I can imagine,” Kazuya answered, even though he really couldn’t. Sometimes he wished he had siblings, just so he wouldn’t be such a burden. Someone who could take over the business.

The food arrived and they fell silent once more, concentrating on the delicious food. Kazuya started to realize that if he didn’t speak up soon, then the food would be gone and there wouldn’t be any reason left for Jin to stay. Once more it was time to gamble.

“Jin, I think I want to talk about what happened a few days ago, maybe I should’ve acted differently and I want to explain why I didn’t,” Kazuya said hurriedly, almost stumbling on the words.

“It’s alright, I understood the situation already, I told you back then. I’m not mad and I’m fine with this,” Jin said, his voice faltering a little at the last few words, causing him to curse his mask for betraying him.

“Yes, but I’m not fine with it. I’ll start from the beginning. You see, Kato came looking for me and she said things that made me realize that I hadn’t really been fully invested in this thing we had between us. So I decided that either I’d go all in, or I’d leave you be. You deserve someone who isn’t as lost as me, so I ended up doing that stupid thing, forcing myself on you and... well you know what happened - I panicked. I want you to know that it wasn’t your fault, not in the least.”

Kazuya took a break to straighten up, so he could watch Jin’s face. The other looked almost terrified at what Kazuya was telling him.

“You- you thought it was the lack of sex that made me so hurt?” Jin asked, astonished and almost disbelieving. He felt like his mind was thoroughly fucked by Kazuya’s words. Had he really been that lost with his conclusions the whole time?

“Not just that, but a part of it,” Kazuya whispered, suddenly very interested in his fork, “and the fact that I didn’t say anything to Ueda when he said all those things. I’m sorry for that too. I couldn’t seem to snap out of it and he was so angry. I felt numb.”

“What?” Jin asked, feeling like squatting on the ground and curling up. He had been wrong the whole time, Kazuya had been wrong the whole time. He almost laughed but the confusion prevented it.

“I was hurt when you didn’t say anything to Ueda, but because I thought that- I thought you didn’t feel like you wanted to be with me anymore because I wasn’t enough and that’s why you didn’t defend us,” he started. “The thing that bothered me in our relationship was never about sex, I love you more than I want you, I would want to be with you even if we would never have sex. What hurt me the most was that you didn’t open up to me. When you’re not alright you shut me out completely instead of telling me what was wrong and that’s why I thought I’m not the right one for you.”

“Everybody has been calling me an idiot, I guess this proves they’re right,” Kazuya sighed, still too afraid to dare take a glance at Jin. He wasn’t sure if the other was irritated or disappointed at him, or the fact that he came clean with his foolishness now was considered bad timing.

“Stupid,” Jin whispered. “Stupid stupid stupid,” he said aloud and sniffled, now openly crying. “What do I need to say to you before you stop hurting me and just believe that you don’t have to do anything to earn my love. As long as you are you, I love you,” Jin sobbed, not sure if he was crying out of sorrow or relief. He lowered his head so his hair was hiding his face and raised a hand to cup his mouth.

“And I made you cry again,” Kazuya whispered, “I’m sorry Jin, I’m really sorry. My arrogance and my awkwardness seem to get me into trouble no matter what I do, but it’s no excuse. I should’ve talked to you properly right away, or stayed clear of you, not dawdled somewhere in between. I made it worse now, didn’t I?”

“You are-” Jin started with a wobbly voice. “You are arrogant, antisocial, insecure, and hard to get to talk about other things than science. You can be too serious, grumpy and rejective at times. And you get carried away very easily and neglect the others around you. But still,” Jin let out a hiccup. “Still, I saw those sides of you first but still I wanted to know you more and go deeper. And what I found there was this sensitive, gentle, caring, lonely person. And once I got behind your wall you built up for yourself, you snatched my heart immediately. And throughout this relationship there were times when you exploded or rejected me, when I exploded or acted like an idiot but still I didn’t want it to end because despite all you are the one for me. I love you.” Jin’s words were silent, almost non-audible.

“I love you too, I’m certain of it,” Kazuya said, feeling determined to get his feelings across now that Jin had explained his. His hard time telling Jin what he felt had to end, even though Jin might not want to start anything together again, “and I feel so safe and normal with you Jin - you’re the only one that can get me to slow down and feel instead of just rushing past everything. I didn’t notice at first, but suddenly I cared about what you thought and how you felt, it was so completely new to me that I missed it completely.”

”Are you alright?” Kazuya asked because Jin looked utterly heartbroken.

Jin stilled for a moment before deciding that if Kazuya told him his feelings honestly, he should carry on being honest as well. “No, I’m not. I haven’t been alright since that night we slept separated. I know I acted like nothing was wrong and I was all close with Koyuki but I just didn’t want you to feel guilty so I decided it would be better for you if I was alright. But the truth is, I don’t think I can be alright without you,” he finished with a whisper.

As Jin said the last words, Kazuya had a hard time controlling himself, was he supposed to be as happy as he felt, or should he act sensibly and discuss things further? He wished Ooshima was here to tell him, but she wasn’t here because they needed to learn how to communicate with each other. So Kazuya guessed that it would be fine showing Jin how he felt.

“Jin... can I hug you?” Kazuya asked, cheeks burning, looking straight at the other, “I’ve missed you terribly and I’ve been an idiot for not doing this sooner.”

Jin raised his teary-eyed gaze and nodded almost feverishly, his body trembling because of the craving and loneliness he felt. It only took Kazuya a few seconds to get off his chair, rounding the table, before he was pressing his face against Jin’s chest, arms in a tight grip around Jin’s body.

“Let’s do this the right way, let’s promise to talk and not to draw silly conclusions,” Kazuya said, voice muffled against Jin’s clothes.

“Yeah,” Jin said and circled his arms around Kazuya’s body. He smiled against the boy’s hair. “God I’ve missed you.”

Instead of answering, Kazuya released his grip around Jin, but just enough so he could move to sit on Jin’s lap with his back against the table, burying his head in the crook of Jin’s neck. It still felt so incredibly right being near Jin, close to him, in a way Kazuya had never felt before. He didn’t want Jin to cry, but he realized that it wasn’t really up to him to decide.

Before he knew what he did he had already started kissing Jin’s neck, trying to do anything he could think of to comfort.

Jin pulled Kazuya as close as he could before hesitantly speaking up. “Does this mean you’ll take me back?” he mumbled against Kazuya’s hair, trying to hold himself back until receiving the confirmation. And after that, Jin smiled, he wouldn’t care who came in, he would let his feelings erupt.

Kazuya chuckled a little, finally feeling relieved. “Silly, I would be an even bigger idiot if I didn’t. If you’ll have me I’m yours.”

Jin didn’t wait anymore. He drew back his head to catch Kazuya’s lips hungrily, like he was about to starve, and kissed him passionately, his hands holding the boy almost desperately. He pressed against Kazuya so forcefully he was almost pushed back on the table.

If Jin’s hungry desire had scared Kazuya before it certainly didn’t now because he felt the same himself. He had one hand on Jin’s arm and the other around his neck, battling for dominance in the kiss.

Jin groaned and got up abruptly, lifting Kazuya up without much effort just to carry him to the fancy couch in the corner without even once breaking the kiss. He sat on it and settled Kazuya back on his lap. “Now it’s more comfy,” he chuckled into the kiss before tossing his arms tightly around the boy’s waist to bring him close.

“You beast, this makes it even more inappropriate,” Kazuya said in feigned annoyance, biting Jin’s lips and sucking on them, not even dreaming of letting go.

“You know you like it,” Jin murmured before forcefully shoving his tongue into Kazuya’s mouth, moaning all the while. His other hand slid to Kazuya’s hair to disappear into the thick locks.

Forcefully breaking the kiss, Kazuya drew back a little panting for air, “I do like it, but... would you mind continuing this somewhere we won’t get interrupted? We’re here under Ooshima’s name after all, it’d be a bad idea getting tossed out.”

“Mood killer,” Jin pouted but let go of Kazuya and got up. “Do you know what is the first thing we’ll do after we’ve eaten and gotten out of here?” he asked with a sneaky smile.

“No,” Kazuya answered, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

“We’ll go to visit Ueda,” Jin announced and began to stuff food in his mouth a whole lot more energetically than when the food had arrived.

“Ueda? I guess that’s a good idea though, he said something about being mad at you for not asking for his permission,” Kazuya answered while getting back to the table, starting to eat the rest of his food too.

“I still don’t agree that I need his permission for dating you but I’m not going to repeat the mistake of keeping it a secret.” Jin rolled his eyes, Ueda sure was overprotective of Kazuya.

“I’m like his little brother Jin, of course he wants you to ask for his permission, but I agree with you.”

“Sure sure, I’ll ask,” Jin sighed. “But this time you will defend our relationship as well,” he said, faking a stern look.

-

“Okay, here we go,” Jin said and took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. His other hand was holding Kazuya’s firmly, making sure Ueda and Ryo would get the message right away.

A few moments later they could hear the locks being unbolted and Ryo wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tanktop opened the door, looking more or less like he had been sleeping.

“Oh my god...” Ryo sighed after taking in the scene, letting his eyes linger for a few seconds on their joined hands, “Kazuya this is-”

“Who is it Ryo?!” Ueda shouted from somewhere inside the house.

“You guys better come in.” Ryo ushered them inside the house and closed the door behind them.

They took their shoes off and followed Ryo to the living room, sitting down on the couch while Ryo shook his head at them once more before hurrying to the kitchen to get Ueda.

“Akanishi? Kazuya? What are you doing here?” Ueda asked, looking suspiciously at the two. He was being led to sit in front of them, Ryo beside him with a firm grip around his arm.

“We thought that this time we wouldn’t keep things from you-” Kazuya started but lost his confidence when Ueda looked at him like he was going to cry.

Jin stepped into the conversation, trying to be as calm as possible to get Kazuya to relax a little. “We broke up and now we made up and we’re together again. I’m sorry for keeping it a secret from you, I didn’t realize how big a part you have in Kazuya’s life,” he said and bowed.

“Ueda,” Ryo whispered while poking his boyfriend in his side to get him to react, “be nice and tell the man that you’re glad he came to tell you this.”

This seemed to get Ueda out of his indecisive state because he got up and hugged Kazuya, almost bouncing happily.

“I’m so happy you two made up Kame-chan, you looked so sad,” Ueda said before he turned his head and looked at Jin, “and you! If you as much as give him a bruise or make him cry I won’t hold back. I only used a third of my strength in that punch I gave you!”

“I won’t give him bruises but I can’t promise I’ll never make him cry. I’ll try not to but it doesn’t always succeed,” Jin answered with a serious tone. “But I’ll never intentionally hurt him. Satisfied with that?”

“Deal,” Ueda said, his serious face cracking up into a wide smile.

“This will seriously worry the Kamenashi clan, now both their male heirs are gay,” Ryo said looking like he was about to burst into laughter.

“Hey! Behave!” Ueda snapped.

“Poor them,” Jin said lightly with a grin. He nudged Kazuya gently. “Come on now, be happy, we got their blessing,” he said and took Kazuya’s hand again.

“I am,” Kazuya answered and hugged Jin, “but seriously, this is getting far too mushy for me.”

“Hear hear!” Ryo exclaimed and winked at Ueda when he sent him another death glare.

“I swear, you two are weirdly enough very much alike,” Ueda mumbled and gestured towards Kazuya and Ryo.

“Their heights match,” Jin remarked just to get a punch thrown at his arm.

“Shut up,” Kazuya mumbled and leaned his head on Jin’s shoulder, “I could’ve been an awesome baseball player if I was a bit taller. Don’t rub it in.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Jin said and kissed Kazuya’s forehead. “Should we head back to my place? I’ll order some pizza! I’m hungry again,” he announced with a wide, childlike smile.

“You’re hopeless,” Kazuya remarked, “sorry Ueda, but I gotta feed this idiot, now you know where I’ll be at anyway.”

“Take him, no worries, I’ll keep the princess occupied,” Ryo teased and gave Kazuya his predatory grin again. The one where you weren’t sure if he wanted to have you for dinner or if he just liked you.

-

As soon as they were inside Jin’s flat the officer barely waited for Kazuya to remove his shoes before he had him pressed against a doorframe, trapped in a needy kiss.

“I feel like the time we spent at Ueda’s was the longest time of my life,” he murmured before deepening the kiss.

Kazuya laughed into the kiss, kicking his left shoe off and put his arms around Jin’s neck. “This is the best I’ve felt in my whole life, no expectations, no confusion, just you and me,” Kazuya said in between kisses.

“And I intend to make the most out of it,” Jin said before backing with Kazuya towards his bedroom, landing on the bed on his back and pulling his boyfriend down on him.

“At least you didn’t tackle me this time, you’ve got a habit of doing that,” Kazuya chuckled and reached out to get the strands of hair that had escaped from Jin’s ponytail out of his face.

“Well, maybe I enjoy rolling over like this better,” Jin said teasingly and pinned Kazuya under him. He kissed the boy demandingly, biting his lips playfully and pushing out his tongue to brush briefly over Kazuya’s teeth.

“Jin?” Kazuya asked while breaking the kiss momentarily.

“Yeah?” Jin answered and raised a little to gain eye-contact with the boy and examine his face.

“We should probably have another talk about this whole sex-thing... but not tonight, I’m too tired,” Kazuya admitted, keeping his eyes on Jin even if he felt incredibly embarrassed by bringing the subject up.

“Okay, love,” Jin said softly and kissed Kazuya’s cheek tenderly. “Do you want to go to sleep?”

“No, not right now,” Kazuya answered, leaning up so he could catch Jin’s lips with his again, humming and smiling while doing so.

“Okay, good, since I’d have a really hard time falling asleep right now,” Jin said happily and answered the kiss sweetly. He petted Kazuya’s neck and arm with his hands and slowly devoured Kazuya’s mouth with his tongue.

Even though Kazuya felt a bit tired he didn’t want it to end, feeling Jin’s hands move on his body, his lips and his tongue capturing Kazuya’s mouth fully. Before he knew it he felt incredibly hot and wanted Jin to kiss him everywhere, not just on his mouth. Maybe, he thought, maybe he was getting more comfortable in his own skin. He urged Jin to move his lips by shifting his head to the side, offering him his sensitive skin on his neck and throat instead.

Jin took the hint and moved lower, but smirked to himself. He wouldn’t give the boy what he wanted that easily, so once Jin lowered his head to kiss Kazuya’s skin, the kisses were a delicate brushing of lips, his mouth barely making contact with the neck at all. Jin blew some air on the slightly wet skin in between the teasing kisses.

Completely thrown off track by Jin’s sudden gentleness, Kazuya chuckled a little and decided that he too could play games. Before Jin had a chance to react he successfully moved them around so he ended up on top, now pinning Jin to the bed.

“My turn,” Kazuya whispered before attacking Jin’s neck and ear, something he knew Jin was weak for.

First surprised by Kazuya’s sudden action but quickly regaining his composure, Jin let out a moan that partially sounded like a cry and bent his neck, giving Kazuya as much access to his skin as he wanted. His hands roamed on Kazuya’s body almost hungrily, sliding up and down his sides from his neck to his hip.

“So you like that?” Kazuya whispered in Jin’s ear, earning a shiver in return.

“There’s very few things you can do that I don’t like,” Jin answered stubbornly, panting slightly but not completely giving in to Kazuya.

“Mhm, so this is okay too?” Kazuya asked and lightly bit Jin along his jaw, “and this too?” he added before moving downwards and gave Jin’s collarbone the same treatment.

Jin let out a high-pitched sound and wriggled. “It tickles!” he said with wide eyes before grinning and quickly sitting up so that Kazuya was astride on his lap.

“You brat,” he chuckled before taking a hold of Kazuya’s earlobe with his teeth and biting on it teasingly. He then finally moved his lips fully on the boy’s neck, kissing and biting on the skin, teasing the sensitive area behind his ear with extra care. His hands were firmly on Kazuya’s hips, massaging them in a circle and drumming the fingers.

“That’s better,” Kazuya moaned and let his head fall back, pulling the hair tie out of Jin’s hair so he could bury his hands in his long thick hair.

Jin gulped as he suddenly realized he was getting turned on. He closed his eyes and stopped kissing Kazuya’s neck, instead murmuring the boy’s name against it faintly.

“Kazuya, we need to stop,” he said, panting.

Kazuya raised his head again, looking at Jin. He could tell that the other was getting hard, but what surprised him the most that he himself felt like he was too. A bit shocked by his realization he blushed and hurried off Jin’s lap.

“Yeah, we better,” Kazuya hurried to say and got off the bed and set course to the bathroom. “I won’t be long!” he added before he locked the door behind him. As soon as the door was closed and locked he leaned with his back against it and sunk to the floor. So this was what it was supposed to feel like, he thought and tried to calm down. They needed to have that talk anyway and he was really tired, this was not a good time to start breaking boundaries. He’d tell Jin tomorrow, but now they should sleep. Kazuya shook his head and smiled a little, it was funny how so many things had fallen into place just by talking about it.

Before going out again he splashed his face with cold water and was glad that his body had calmed down again, it was a bit embarrassing being that turned on he realized.

“I’m back,” he said silently when returning to the bedroom, looking at Jin from the door, “can I borrow something to sleep in?”

Jin had been on his bed, hugging Condoriano, but he sprang up the moment Kazuya came back. “Sure,” he said and went to his wardrobe just to delve out some pajamas with some really cute kittens and puppies on. “You can use these,” he said in feigned innocence, already thinking in excitement how cute Kazuya would look in it.

“Jin... these look like they’re meant for girls,” Kazuya hesitated.

“Nonsense, I bought them from the unisex department,” Jin lied quickly and shook the pajamas in front of Kazuya, trying to hold in his giggles. He used those pajamas when he was absolutely certain no one would bother him in the evening or morning. Pi, though, had surprised him with them on a couple of times.

“You’re lying, I can tell you know, and I can’t believe that you’ve convinced yourself you’re completely straight up until now...” Kazuya muttered but took the pyjamas anyway.

“Wearing cute pajamas doesn’t make me gay, it just makes me cute,” Jin said cheerfully, terribly content with himself. When Kazuya had the pajamas on, Jin couldn’t help himself; the sight was so cute he squealed and tackled the boy to the bed.

“You’re so cute, Kazuya! Oh my God you’re so adorable let me kiss you and snuggle you and-!” he exclaimed and gave Kazuya kisses all around his face and neck while clinging to him tightly.

“They’re not that bad when I’ve got them on, but I still don’t approve,” Kazuya pouted, but couldn’t help but to burst into laughter at how happy Jin was.

“Go there under the blankets, dada will sing you a lullaby!” Jin said after a few minutes of intensive cuddling, completely smitten by Kazuya’s appearance.

“If you keep this up I’m becoming an irritated old man again,” Kazuya warned but complied and crawled under the blanket settling on his side in the bed.

Jin dove under as well to join Kazuya and after tossing an arm around him he began to hum a song his mum had sung to him at bedtime when he was a child. His lips were inches away from Kazuya’s ear. He couldn’t help but wonder if anyone had ever sung lullabies to the boy.

“That’s actually really nice...” Kazuya mumbled a tiredly before he relaxed and his breathing slowed down, slowly falling asleep.

“We didn’t eat the pizza after all,” Jin remarked to Condoriano and the sleeping Kazuya with a chuckle before humming himself to sleep as well.

-

People were staring at them, but Kazuya was beyond caring about it at this stage. He still thought that they should keep it strictly professional at work, so he had told Jin just that this morning. After dragging him out of bed since Jin seemed to have an even harder time waking up now than before.

“I’m a bit curious as to when Ando will explode,” Kazuya said as they had safely arrived at Jin’s office.

“Me too, I can’t wait to get on his nerves with an office romance,” Jin said merrily. He had noticed people’s stares and he couldn’t care less. Koyuki had smiled at him and given a thumbs up when she had seen them pass her in the hallway and it had made Jin’s mood even better.

“I’m answering back this time, just so you know. I’m not taking any shit from Ando again, but I’m sure Matsumoto will handle the mess afterwards,” Kazuya informed Jin and sat down on the couch that had become his favorite spot.

“He sure will, Ando has no power to threaten us with anything as long as Matsumoto is on our side,” Jin said and sat down at his desk. “Was there anything in the autopsy report or photos of the latest victim?” Jin asked, knowing Kazuya had gone through them the previous day.

“Nothing more than Horikita already had shown me, it’ll be interesting getting the forensic report on where the photos the killer sent everyone were developed though. That could be a clue.” Kazuya stretched his jeans-clad legs and rolled up the sleeves of his cardigan. “The latest victim died because I couldn’t see the obvious, next time I won’t make the same mistake. He was hanging there, trying to hold his body weight up by his broken feet, while we were happily asleep...” Kazuya muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

“Kazuya...” Jin started but was interrupted by Pi walking into the office.

“Good morning, the rumor says that you somehow magically ended up together again,” he said, faking an innocent tone to his voice.

“Pi! You are a sneaky bastard,” Jin said smiling widely. He was very thankful that his best friend had tricked him in the same room with Kazuya.

“You’re welcome. And sorry for the last time, runt,” Pi said to Kazuya on a side note.

Kazuya grumbled a little but gave the other a small nod, “He IS dangerous in a fight, you were right,” Kazuya told Jin.

“Huh?” Jin said in confusion. Pi hadn’t mentioned anything about fighting with Kazuya. “Pi, don’t tell me you had a fight!” he exclaimed once he realized what had probably happened.

“No, I just punched him a little,” Pi said while watching anywhere but towards Jin and Kazuya.

“PI!” Jin roared and marched to the said man. “You have no right to punch people who are weaker than you!” he said threateningly.

“Well, you were locked up in your apartment and this runt here said that you broke up, I was angry!” Pi hissed, defending himself.

“You bastard!” Jin shrieked and aimed a punch at Pi’s face which the other dodged at the last second.

“Jin! What’s wrong with you?! Stop that right now!” Kazuya shouted while grabbing Jin’s arms and pulling him back, “I’m not a freaking girl, and I’ve been practicing boxing with Ueda for years. I would’ve dodged it if I’d wanted to, but I thought I deserved it.” Kazuya explained, a bit scared by the way Jin had exploded just now.

“You wouldn’t have had time to dodge it,” Pi said in amusement. “I would beat your ass in a fight anytime.”

“Shut up,” Jin spat to Pi. “I know you’re not a girl, Kazuya, but violence is still out of question and I won’t sit back after hearing that some jackass has hit my boyfriend,” Jin growled dangerously, ready to throw another punch at Pi anytime.

“Firstly,” Kazuya said while staring at Yamashita, “maybe I wouldn’t win, but I wouldn’t leave you unbattered, that’s for sure, and secondly: Jin please calm down, I’m entitled to handling my own fights.”

Jin glared at Pi and Kazuya for a while before grumpily backing away. “Next time I won’t back off until you’ve got at least 50 percent of your body bruised,” he said with a death glare and went to sit at his desk.

“As if you could do that,” Pi sing-songed teasingly, obviously not at all scared by Jin’s threatening attitude.

“Yes I could, I’ve won most of our fights,” Jin said arrogantly and snorted.

“Yeah, but I won the only fight I used my full power in, remember the one where we were fighting over that chick?” Pi stuck out his tongue.

“I wasn’t serious that time, that girl was bitchy and fat, I didn’t want her,” Jin defended himself.

“Liar!”

“Idiot!”

“Don’t talk about women that way!” Kazuya lectured and hit Jin over the head with an abandoned file, “you sound like a sexist and you should know better.”

“What are you here for anyway, Yamashita?” Kazuya asked, retreating to the couch once more.

“Oh, I just found out something interesting about one of the victims, see and read for yourself,” Pi announced and threw the file containing the revelation to Kazuya before strolling to the door.

“Protection is just as important in homosexual relationships,” he finished with in a feigned lecturing voice and walked out, missing the flashlight the blushing Jin threw at him just by inches.

“You two still act like an old married couple,” Kazuya announced and started browsing through the file Yamashita had given him. “This isn’t about the fourth victim, this is about the third one, Sasaki, the company owner.” Kazuya started to look through it more enthusiastically and flipped the pages so quickly in his excitement that Jin wondered if the boy managed to read anything at all.

“Hey, this is weird, it seems like he had fired one of his employees and accused him of stealing money from the company a year ago. He sure has a motive for revenge, but... it doesn’t feel right. Can we bring him in for questioning?” Kazuya asked.

“It would be such a let-down if he was the murderer, doing such an amateur mistake,” Jin said and chuckled. “I don’t think it’s him either, but let’s invite him here either way or Ando will be furious and take it out on Koyuki.”

“Yeah, let’s. Should we get one of the officers to bring him in?”

“I’ll send one of my men.”

-

“So, Mr. Sugimoto, do you know a person named Sasaki Yoichi?” Jin asked with a stern voice, not showing any signs that he didn’t believe the man was guilty. Kazuya was sitting beside him on a chair Koyuki had brought him. The man they were interviewing, Sugimoto Eiji, sat at the other side of the desk, looking nervous.

“Yes, he was my employer for ten years, before I was fired,” Sugimoto answered, looking nervously at Jin, avoiding to look at Kazuya who had leaned in and was resting his head on his arms.

“Why were you fired?” Jin asked, looking fearlessly into the man’s eyes.

“He accused me of stealing from the company’s money, I worked with the company’s accounting and I was responsible for paying out salaries... I didn’t steal, but he wouldn’t believe me. He said that there was evidence against me. He even involved the police but they closed the investigation... but the damage was already done.” Sugimoto hung his head and sighed.

“Do you have a family to support?” Jin couldn’t help asking, trying to mask his worry behind professionalism.

“I have a son, and a wife... but they left a few months after it happened,” Sugimoto hung his head even lower, “she couldn’t take care of both me and the kid. I haven’t been able to get a new job because this always seems to come up and nobody wants to hire a man that might or might not have stolen from his previous employer.”

“How would you describe your feelings about your previous employer?” Jin asked, having a hard time keeping the compassion out of his face.

“I used to like him very much, he is a hard man, a very good businessman, but I don’t know anymore. I lost my respect for him after this, I had considered him one of my friends.”

Kazuya leaned in even further and looked closely at the man, nodding to himself and then he sat back in his chair again, arms leisurely crossed over his chest.

“Were you aware that Mr. Sasaki was murdered?” Jin asked, observing closely the man’s reaction.

Sugimoto’s head snapped back up and he stared wide-eyed at Jin, “He’s dead?!” he asked in terror. “That’s why you’re interrogating me? Because you think I did it?”

“We need to confirm your alibi for the time of murder, I’m sure you understand,” Jin said determinedly, staying calm despite the huge reaction he got from the man.

“But I don’t have an alibi for anything, the only things I do involve walking and sitting at home, I don’t have a family anymore, I told you that!” Sugimoto was holding onto the edge of the desk so hard that his knuckles turned white, desperately looking back and forth between Jin and Kazuya.

“But if you were home your neighbours will be able to confirm it,” Kazuya said, not managing to keep quiet any longer, “the murder scene is at the other side of Tokyo, he couldn’t have been away for that long at a time without the neighbours noticing it, not if he lives in that kind of cheap, small and gossipy place I imagine he lives in,” Kazuya leaned over and whispered to Jin.

“And you don’t have access to a car right?” Kazuya asked Sugimoto, nodding like he already knew the answer.

“N-no, I don’t. My neighbour downstairs owns a small car, but he uses it for work,” Sugimoto answered, looking a bit taken aback by Kazuya’s sudden enthusiasm, “who are you now again?”

“That’s not important Mr. Sugimoto. I think I might be able to look into the whole money-thing as well, maybe there’s a solution to that mystery too,” Kazuya mumbled to himself, already lost in deep thought.

“Yeah, we’ll try to get the case reopened,” Jin said with a smile. “Anyway, I believe this was all for today, Mr. Sugimoto, we’ll ask your neighbours to come confirm your alibi, we’ll contact you if there’s anything else we want to ask. Thank you for your time, officer Tsukamoto is waiting outside and will guide you back,” Jin said in a friendly manner before standing up to signal the man was free to leave.

Sugimoto got up on his feet and bowed from his waist in both Jin’s and Kazuya’s direction before backing out of the room, “Thank you”, he said and walked out, closing the door behind him.

“Well, at least it gave us some insight in Sasaki’s character,” Kazuya said and leaned against Jin’s shoulder, “he was the type that didn’t care who he threw to the wolves for his own safety's sake.”

“Yeah, he seemed not to care that a man’s life was ruined,” Jin sighed and circled an arm around Kazuya to pull him closer. “Poor man, I hope they can reopen the case.”

“If they can’t then I will present the evidence for them, if the work is already done then they surely can’t refuse to sort things out, it’s only been about a year,” Kazuya reasoned and got something wild in his look.

“And if they don’t I’ll threaten them with my name,” Kazuya added and laughed at his own ingenuity.

Jin snorted at Kazuya’s remark. “Well, I think we can safely say that Sugimoto is out of the suspect-list, I’m certain his neighbors can confirm his alibi.”

“He hasn’t got a motive for the other murders anyway, and I find it unlikely that he’s got the means to use the computers he’d have to use to be able to hack into my mail like that, it’s like the killer is a ghost.”

“Yeah,” Jin said and buried his face to Kazuya’s hair while pondering. Who was this killer and what was his motive? Was this thing about firing the man just a coincidence or did it have something to do with the murder?

“I like the way you behave when you’re interrogating people,” Kazuya said, “I’ve always liked people that are good at what they do.”

“Oh, you’re not mocking me for lack of professionalism anymore?” Jin asked teasingly against Kazuya’s hair, chuckling.

“Both you and Yamashita still has quite a long way to go before I will consider you two to act professionally all the time, but you were good now, that’s all,” Kazuya answered a bit sharply, “I don’t even want to think about that whole kiss-drama... that was awful.”

“Blame Pi for that, I didn’t enjoy it at all myself. His disgusting man’s mouth on mine... Yuck!” Jin said, a little bit offended.

“You should be used to it, don’t forget that transvestite,” Kazuya sing-songed and started tickling Jin along his ribs.

“He- She was hot and I was drunk!” Jin said and wriggled under Kazuya’s fingers, trying to dodge the tickling sensation.

“Yeah, yeah, excuses,” Kazuya teased and stopped tickling Jin so he could get to his feet, “I’m going to get some tea, do you want anything?”

“Coffee and chocolate. And maybe also a small sandwich. Oh, and a pizza slice! And they should also have those little lollipops that have a toy inside!” Jin listed quickly, smiling sunnily.

“You’re a glutton,” Kazuya sighed and waved at Jin before leaving for the cafeteria.

-

Jin was eating again, maybe he was making up for not eating much for a while, but Kazuya couldn’t really tell. He looked happy though, and content, sitting with his legs crossed on his couch, a second helping of pasta on his plate. Kazuya himself however was a bit too nervous to be able to enjoy his food properly, there was something he needed to get off his chest.

“Jin, do you mind having that talk now?” Kazuya asked while putting his half eaten plate of food back on the coffee table. They were watching a movie Jin had picked, but Kazuya found it to be a bit hard to keep up with the plot even though it was one of those simple minded action movies.

“What talk?” Jin asked, some pasta falling out of his mouth back to the plate. He put the movie on pause and turned to Kazuya before emptying his mouth by swallowing. “What talk?” he asked again, this time more seriously.

“About you getting fat and crushing me in your sleep,” Kazuya scoffed and pulled his knees up against his chest, resting his head on them. “No, I meant that... you know, about sex,” Kazuya finished and blushed. “I know how things work and all that, I just haven’t felt the urge to have sex before, does that make any sense to you?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Jin answered, a little lost on how to go with this talk. “Do you want to do it with me? Because if you don’t, you’ll just need to say so and I’ll understand,” he eventually continued after putting away his own plate.

Kazuya blushed even deeper and cleared his throat, hiding his face against his knees.

“I do, I just needed to talk things through, so you understand, because sometimes my brain won’t cooperate with my body and that’s why I haven’t been able to do this with you. But last night... last night was really good Jin, if you hadn’t backed away I wouldn’t have been able to stop,” Kazuya admitted and dared to peek up at Jin.

“What do you fear when you can’t go further?” Jin asked a little insecurely, worried that he would sound accusing by asking such a question.

“It’s probably just the fact that, well, I don’t know what you’re going to do and I know enough to understand that anal sex hurts a lot the first time or so... Don’t freak on me now, it needed to be said, because that’s what we’d end up doing eventually, right?”

“I would imagine it does hurt, yes,” Jin said with a faint blush, “but you need to understand that it’s not the only thing we can do and when the time comes, there are ways to make it less painful. It requires a lot of trust to have your body under someone else’s care, but if the other person loves you, he will think of your comfort before his own desires,” he continued reassuringly.

“Yeah, I get that now, I don’t know why I got so weird about it because when you explain it sounds very rational,” Kazuya said, smiling at Jin. He unfolded his legs and straightened his back before taking off his glasses, putting them on the table. “I feel better now.”

“But even though I promise that I’ll be gentle and try not to cause you feel uneasy or hurt, it doesn’t mean you’ll have to think like you haven’t got a reason not to do it and have sex with me even if you don’t feel ready. I don’t want that,” Jin said firmly.

Kazuya swallowed a few times and concentrated at his hands, massaging his right one that was still sore after him stupidly hitting a wall with it.

“Me neither, so you’ll have to tell me if you want to stop and I’ll stop right away,” Kazuya teased before letting out a long sigh of relief, “are you going to finish that or what?” he asked and moved closer to Jin so he could lean against Jin’s shoulder.

“Oh, good that you reminded me, I’m starving!” Jin grinned and took the plate, starting to stuff the rest of his pasta to his mouth. He was finished in less than two minutes and put the plate back on the sofa table to properly settle his arms around Kazuya and kiss his cheek.

“I can’t understand how you can eat that much without getting fat. I ate quite a lot when I played baseball but I had to stop it after I quit, I couldn’t fit into my pants...”Kazuya mumbled and jealously examined Jin’s arms and stomach.

“I have a large energy consumption,” Jin laughed and patted his stomach contently. “You could use a few extra pounds though,” he remarked and slid his hand to Kazuya’s belly to stroke it. “You’re tiny.”

“I’m not tiny, you’re not that much taller than me,” Kazuya retorted and snuggled closer to Jin, he felt goosebumps forming under his T-shirt wherever Jin touched him.

“Yeah, but I’m broader and more muscular,” Jin shot back, sliding his hand up and down along Kazuya’s shirt absent-mindedly. He nuzzled his face to Kazuya’s temple and kissed him just above his ear. “I’m so happy that you’re mine again,” he confessed and closed his eyes.

“And I’m really glad that I met you. You’re a brutish and somewhat unprofessional criminal detective, but you’re my brutish and somewhat unprofessional criminal detective,” Kazuya stated happily, putting his hand on Jin’s so he could control the strokes it did over his body.

Jin hummed in content and kissed Kazuya’s cheek before moving to his lips, gently kissing him while letting Kazuya control the strokes of his hand.

Kazuya leaned up against Jin who put his arms around him, pulling him closer. Both of them eagerly deepened the kiss.

“Jin?”

“Mmh?” Jin asked with his eyes closed, not wanting to break the kiss.

“Do we have to finish the movie?” Kazuya asked before starting to let his kisses wander away from Jin’s lips.

Jin reached blindly for the remote and turned off the TV, his eyes closed and his head thrown back to allow Kazuya to have as much of the skin on his neck as he wanted.

“I guess not,” Kazuya mused and kept kissing Jin’s neck, moving towards the neckline of his shirt. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of Jin’s skin, or the touch of his hands, his burning skin underneath his clothes. It felt like he couldn’t back away, not when Jin was so close and Kazuya just wanted to feel him all over. Without hesitation he straddled Jin, sitting on his lap, and started kissing and biting Jin’s ear, sometimes wandering downwards.

Jin reached out for one of Kazuya’s hands, moaning when Kazuya’s hungry mouth reached his ear, so he could lace their fingers together against the backrest of the couch. But when Kazuya moaned against his ear he couldn’t control himself anymore.

“Kazuya? Are you sure about this?” Jin asked, sitting up straight so he could look at the boy.

“Yes, dead certain,” Kazuya answered, his lips read and cheeks flushed, looking at Jin with intense eyes.

“Then this isn’t the proper place at all,” Jin joked and hoisted Kazuya up in his arms.

“Jin!” Kazuya whined but smiled widely as he was carried into the bedroom, abruptly thrown on the bed.

“What?” Jin teased when Kazuya glared at him, “you wanted to get down, right?” he asked and climbed on top of the bed and didn’t waste a second before he pinned Kazuya to the bed underneath him. He hungrily claimed Kazuya’s lips again and let his hands wander along Kazuya’s sides, slipping underneath Kazuya’s shirt as he reached his waist. Kazuya moaned and shivered, not able to keep still.

Hit with a sudden urge to feel more of Jin, Kazuya reached down to the hem of Jin’s shirt and caressed Jin’s sides, moving back over Jin’s back and exploring the tight muscles.

“This is in the way,” Jin whispered and tugged at the hem of Kazuya’s shirt, waiting for approval.

“Only if you take yours off,” Kazuya teased and started to pull Jin’s shirt upwards, over Jin’s arms and head.

“You’re cheating,” Jin accused, “now it’s your turn.”

Kazuya couldn’t help but to moan when Jin started to kiss his way down to Kazuya’s navel the moment he got the shirt off, chuckling a bit when he returned to his small nipples.

“They’re just as cute as the rest of you,” Jin cooed and circled one with his tongue, making Kazuya arch underneath him at the new sensation. The boy was panting and when Jin moved a bit to get better access to the newfound sensitive spots on Kazuya’s body he realized that the boy was actually getting hard.

Kazuya bit back a throaty sound when Jin moved to gently rub their groins together.

“That’s... god... Jin...” Kazuya moaned while the other sucked and kissed the skin on his neck while caressing his side with one hand.

“You like it that much, huh?” Jin whispered in Kazuya’s ear, making the boy shiver in anticipation.

Before Kazuya had a chance to answer he had reached down, and let his hand move alongside the waist of Kazuya’s jeans, “these are in the way too,” Jin continued and rolled off the boy. While sitting up he opened the buttons on Kazuya’s jeans, earning moans from the boy every time he touched his hard erection through the fabric of the trousers. Kazuya lifted his hips from the bed so Jin could pull the jeans off him, blushing when he saw the state he was in.

Kazuya hadn’t really seen himself hard before, not like this anyway. He had probably woken up with a hardon when he was younger, but it wasn’t anything he remembered. What enthralled him though, was the way Jin looked when he had his hair free and wild, taking off his own jeans. Jin was gorgeous.

“I think you might like this,” Jin said with a deep voice as he climbed back on top of Kazuya, playfully rubbing his erection against Kazuya’s. The mentally unprepared boy arched his back and uttered a needy sound, pulling Jin down by his neck so he could kiss him. Kazuya forced his tongue inside Jin’s mouth and moaned into the kiss as Jin kept rocking against Kazuya ever so lightly, not wanting the boy to come just yet. When Kazuya started to move his hips as well he decided it was enough with the foreplay and rolled off Kazuya so he could reach down and pull his boxers off before removing his own.

“What are we going to do?” Kazuya asked, thinking it was better to ask before he let his worries catch up with him and get into a panic.

“I want to touch you, can I?” Jin asked, letting his hand settle on Kazuya’s thigh.

“I-yes, yes you can,” Kazuya panted, feeling like he might explode if Jin didn’t touch him soon.

As if Jin could tell the boy was desperate for contact, he reached out and encircled the boys hard erection with his hand, kissing him as he did.

Kazuya could hardly keep his eyes open as the intense pleasure spread through his body when Jin started to move his hand slowly up and down his length, but he wanted to look at Jin so he looked sideways at the other. What he saw made him moan out loud and his body jerk under Jin’s gentle hand. Jin was lying on his side beside him moving his other hand over his own erection in the same pace as he did with Kazuya’s.

“Jin,” Kazuya moaned and threw his head back, feeling an intense pleasure starting to build up somewhere in his lower stomach.

Jin realized that the boy wouldn’t last much longer so he increased the pace and the pressure on himself, occasionally sliding his thumb over the slit. He watched with half lidded eyes as Kazuya arched his back once more, moaning something before he almost screamed Jin’s name and came over his stomach and Jin’s hand. The sight alone made Jin unintentionally thrust into his own hand, only managing to pull a few more strokes before he was close to the edge as well while watching Kazuya pant and shake in the last waves of his orgasm. Quickly rolling over on his back before he came, Jin kept looking at Kazuya and moaned his name over and over as he rode his own orgasm.

They lay side by side, both too out of breath to speak, their minds blurred by the intense pleasure. After managing to calm his breathing down a little, he turned his head sideways to look at Kazuya.

“Are you alright?” he asked gently.

“Uhuh,” Kazuya mumbled and nodded slightly, “that was amazing,” he continued, feeling like an idiot for not finding a better word for it. But his head was still buzzing and his legs felt heavier than if he’d run a marathon so it wasn’t an easy task to explain just how mind blowing it had been.

“Should I fetch some paper towels or will you take a shower with me?”

“A shower sounds good,” Kazuya answered, managing to reach over and push a strand of hair behind Jin’s ear.

Jin kissed Kazuya sweetly before getting up and offering his hand to pull the boy up.

“Thanks,” Kazuya said with a smile and let himself be eased off the bed, leaning against Jin as they made their way to the bathroom and got into the shower. They washed each other with lazy strokes and once in a while they stole a kiss, holding each other close.

“I love you,” Kazuya whispered, barely loud enough so Jin could hear it over the sound of the water, as they separated from a kiss.

“I love you more,” Jin murmured back.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> I really recommend checking out the character overview that I've linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter, it really pinpoints the look we imagined for the characters.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	11. Passion and Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/) (a.k.a. Rika). I'm attempting to re-upload this story as rapidly as possible, but since it is quite long and I'm going to have to format a lot of text it's going to take a while. Please be patient with me 💜🙏
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _April 27th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 11 - Passion and Jealousy**

Jin was pulled out of his pleasant dreams as the morning sun shone through the window. He groaned a little unhappily and opened his eyes, immediately squinting them, almost blinded by the light. He was just about to shift himself away from the annoying sunshine and go back to the ever-so-tempting sleep when he took the first proper breath since waking up and smelled Kazuya’s hair that was tickling his face. Jin felt his senses slowly waking up by the scent he had grown to be addicted to and after a few deep inhales he suddenly didn’t feel like going back to sleep anymore.

Kazuya was peacefully sleeping on his back. Jin had clung to him somewhere during the night so that his face was pressed against the boy’s temple. He looked at his sleeping boyfriend with a warm smile, chuckling at the way Kazuya’s hair had curled up, because they had gone to sleep with damp hair. Carefully, making sure not to wake Kazuya up, Jin drew him closer and kissed his temple. He didn’t know what time it was, but it didn’t matter.

Suddenly remembering all the times Kazuya had woken him up earlier than he wanted to, a sneaky smile formed on Jin’s face. He started to plant kisses on the boy’s cheek and neck, humming a song while doing so. After a few seconds Kazuya started to move sleepily and when finally seeing him open his eyes, Jin brought his lips to the boy’s ear.

“Good morning starshine, the earth says hello,” he sang with a smile, chuckling when hearing a small confused voice form in Kazuya’s throat.

“Starshine?” Kazuya mumbled and tried to make sense of Jin’s words, the fact that even trying to use his brain felt like wading through thick toffee didn’t make it better.

“Yeah,” Jin chuckled and kissed Kazuya’s cheek. “You need to wake up, love.”

“Bad timing as always,” the boy sulked and started to stretch his sore body, one limb at a time, “Jin?” he whispered when he was finished and had turned to his side to look at the other.

“Yeah?” Jin asked, chuckling at the adorable cat-like way Kazuya had stretched himself under his arms.

Kazuya smiled brightly and put an arm around Jin’s neck, answering with a raspy voice, “Good morning.”

“I’m a little disappointed,” Jin laughed. “I was expecting a tantrum or something. How can you just wake up without objections?” He pouted a little and snorted.

“I was supposed to throw a tantrum?” Kazuya asked, raising an eyebrow jokingly.

“Well, I would.” Jin kissed Kazuya’s forehead and then rolled onto his stomach to stretch his back. “Ow, my muscles,” he complained at the tense sensation and sighed.

“What on earth have you been doing? Sit Ups in your sleep?” Kazuya asked, and sat up in bed, crawling closer to Jin.

“They get tense once I’m stressed and after that they’re sore for weeks unless I pay for a massage,” Jin murmured against Condoriano.

“Wimp,” Kazuya teased but kicked the blanket off his legs and straddled Jin, starting to work on the muscles in Jin’s neck and shoulders before he moved downwards.

Jin moaned something inaudible, noticeably pleased by the treatment Kazuya’s hands gave him. He was somehow amazed by the strength the boy had as he pressed his palms against Jin’s back and shoulders firmly.

“Tell me if I’m hurting you,” Kazuya stated and set to work on the tense parts of Jin’s lower back.

“Feels good,” Jin sighed and smiled, enjoying the feeling of his muscles slowly relaxing. “You’re a heaven’s gift to me,” he continued absent-mindedly, halfway to trance.

Realizing that Jin was on his way of dozing off, Kazuya poked Jin in his sides, “hey, don’t fall asleep! You dragged me up at this ungodly hour, so take responsibility for it.”

“Don’t be so petty,” Jin murmured lazily and closed his eyes languidly, slowly drifting off to comfortable sleep.

“That’s not nice at all,” Kazuya murmured and got out of bed guided by a growling stomach and a dry throat.

Jin sensed the other leaving and found new willpower to stay awake. He snapped his eyes open and shook his head fast to clear his mind before quickly grabbing Kazuya’s hand to pull him back.

“Sorry, love. I’ll wake up now,” he promised apologetically and gave Kazuya his best puppy-eye look to have the other soften and give him a morning kiss.

“You could’ve just let me sleep,” Kazuya said with a frown but stepped closer and into Jin’s outstretched arms, “thanks for last night,” Kazuya whispered. He had been thinking about saying it since Jin woke him up, but hadn’t managed to gather enough courage to do it.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Jin said softly with a faint blush and kissed Kazuya gently, pulling him closer to his chest in his arms.

“I did,” the boy murmured between kisses, letting Jin pull him closer and do what he wanted, hardly registering that Jin actually blushed.

The officer kissed Kazuya slowly and tenderly at first but after some time started to deepen the kiss, his lips getting hungrier. He always had this feeling in the mornings, that he just couldn’t get enough of kissing and touching his boyfriend. So it was with great eagerness Jin tossed so that Kazuya was now under him so he could get the boy’s lips even more thoroughly devoured.

Jin’s sudden burst of energy made Kazuya smile into the kiss, but the sweetness was soon replaced by hungry lips. Kazuya ran his hands over Jin’s bare back and relaxed into the mattress as the other pressed into him.

Jin dove both of his hands into Kazuya’s hair and massaged his scalp and upper neck sensually, every now and then shifting the boy’s head into a better angle in order to deepen the kiss. He moaned lightly at the feeling of Kazuya’s hands on his exposed skin and arched his back out of reflex.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to eat me up whole?” Kazuya chuckled once he managed to break the kiss a few seconds, a bit out of breath from Jin’s intensity.

“It wouldn’t be any fun. My goal is to eat you up piece by piece,” Jin announced playfully before kissing Kazuya’s cheek and ear. “Do you want to get up?” he asked innocently.

“It depends... what time is it anyway?”

“Half past six,” Jin said after stealing a peek of his alarm clock. “Should I make you some breakfast? It’s my turn isn’t it?” Jin withdrew a little and stretched his neck, trying to calm down his over-excited senses.

“Food...” Kazuya whispered longingly and smiled brightly as he decided, “I want breakfast.”

-

“Jin it’s okay.” Kazuya had been telling Jin the same thing but in different versions during the car ride to the station and now as they were walking towards Jin’s office, but the other didn’t seem convinced. As much as Kazuya wanted to laugh about how funny it had been watching Jin fail with the breakfast no matter how hard he tried, he guessed that it would offend the already sad man.

Jin didn’t answer or even look at Kazuya. His cheeks were burning in embarrassment at his failure in the kitchen. Somehow he had managed to burn the toasts even though he had just stuck them in the toaster and the bacon had ended up being slimy and fatty instead of the crisp way he had been going for. Kazuya had held back laughter all the way to work, he could tell, and it irked him even more.

Halfway through to his office one of the lower ranked policemen suddenly hurried up to them. His cheeks were slightly flushed and both Jin and Kazuya could tell he had seen the pictures by the way he avoided eye-contact.

“Ando wants to see you,” he announced quickly and made himself scarce as quickly as possible.

“Maybe he’s afraid that homosexuality is contagious,” Jin muttered in annoyance, momentarily forgetting his embarrassment.

“Maybe he has a crush on you,” Kazuya teased, “let’s go then, better not let the troll under the bridge wait,” he added before they set off in the direction of Ando’s office.

Koyuki’s eyes widened the moment she saw Jin and Kazuya approaching her. “He didn’t?” she asked Jin, almost looking terrified.

“Yeah, he asked to see us,” Jin said grumpily. “Well, we should’ve seen it coming.”

Koyuki reached for the phone insecurely and announced that the two had arrived. After receiving the order to guide them in she hung up and turned to Jin.

“He sounded cheerful. That’s a bad sign.”

“I can handle it. Thanks, Koyuki.” Jin walked forward towards Ando’s office. Koyuki nodded timidly to Kazuya, biting her lips thoughtfully.

“Kato,” Kazuya greeted with a nod, heading after Jin.

There was a big difference between Matsumoto’s and Ando’s office, Kazuya noted, and it wasn’t the size, it was the ambiance. This office looked grand but the person behind the big mahogany desk was anything but glamorous. He stood out in stark contrast against the room, as if he had stolen everything in it. Kazuya decided that Ando’s big smile suited him poorly.

“I’m sorry that I took so long with inviting you two to have this little chat, but I had a hard time getting access to the resignation forms,” Ando said with a huge, ominous smirk.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’m not going to resign,” Jin announced, sounding so light it was obvious he was mocking his boss.

“Wrong, Akanishi, you will,” Ando said smugly. “You know, ever since Matsumoto decided to hire you I knew that you would bring a lot of trouble to this station. But unfortunately the chief has taken a liking to you so I was powerless to do anything about it. Until I received these.” Ando took out the photos and put them on his desk, looking shamelessly content with himself.

“Tell me, what was your last name again?” he asked Kazuya, acting as if it wasn’t a rhetorical question.

“Spare me the innocence act, you know my name is Kamenashi,” Kazuya answered looking far from impressed, “and this is where you start to threaten us with exposure and other scary things I presume?”

“Smart kid,” Ando said with a smirk. “But don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with an intelligent person with an influential name solving our hottest case, it’s Akanishi here that I want out. So I’ll give you a choice. Whether you will leave willingly, Akanishi, or Matsumoto will have no choice but to kick you both out after these are sent to the tabloids. Having a gay son would be a little bit of a downer for the family business, don’t you think?” he asked Kazuya.

Jin had gone pale. He was clenching his hands into fists, looking ready to either start a fight or faint.

“As if grandpa would care, he’s been through a world war and far worse things than this little trifle,” Kazuya snorted and leaned back in the chair he had sat down in.

“I have no doubt, it’s just the younger Kamenashi I’m worried about, your father to be exact. I wonder if his business will continue to run smoothly if this somehow got out. Not to mention how much you would disappoint your mother,” Ando said casually. The fact that he had done a little research of the Kamenashi family before inviting them in was evident.

“And you have no regrets whatsoever about using the photos taken by a stalking serial killer to blackmail Akanishi into resigning? You sound like an amiable _officer of the law_ ,” Kazuya spat the last words out, emphasising them as much as he could.

“Give it up, he’s not going to change his mind,” Jin said silently, his eyes filled with hate. He looked at the resignation form placed on the desk and then locked his eyes with Ando’s.

“So if I sign this then the photos won’t leak?” he asked expressionlessly, the intensity of his eyes remaining and piercing Ando, though Kazuya could see Jin’s hands shaking under the desk.

“Jin, I forbid you to sign that paper,” Kazuya hissed, irked by the way Ando was smiling smugly in the corner of his eyes.

Jin ignored Kazuya’s words and took a deep breath before reaching for a pen with trembling hands, just to be interrupted by the door slamming open with someone dashing in energetically.

“I heard you were having a small get together so I rushed over, do you mind if I join?” Matsumoto asked enthusiastically with his polished smile before closing the door and moving a chair from the corner of the room so he could take a seat between Jin and Kazuya. “So what have I missed?”

“Mr. Matsumoto...” Ando said with wide eyes, looking terrified. His eyes shifted from the resignation form to the photos, to Jin holding the pen ready to sign - obviously wondering if there was a way to stop Matsumoto from guessing what was happening. As he shifted his eyes back to the chief it was evident that the man had caught up pretty fast.

“I- I-” Ando stuttered, the words getting stuck in his throat.

“That twat was threatening to spread the somewhat compromising photographs our code-killer has kindly sent the whole station to the press if Akanishi didn’t resign, and Akanishi, being an even bigger idiot, was actually falling for it,” Kazuya informed Matsumoto while sending deadly glares to both Ando and Jin.

“Oh, I see, well that would cause us some very unwanted complications, wouldn’t you say Ando? We would have to find a new leader of investigation to replace Akanishi in all his cases, then we’d have to find a way to explain how this scandal could’ve taken place right under our noses, wouldn’t we? And then maybe, we would have to reorganize the whole station. I hope you wouldn’t mind having less of a view from your windows,” Matsumoto mused while he kept smiling just as brightly as before.

“If you wouldn’t mind Akanishi, could you put the pen down?” Matsumoto added and reached out to snag the form from Ando’s desk.

Jin looked at Matsumoto, stunned, before coming to his senses and hastily dropping the pen, as if it had suddenly burnt him.

“But Mr. Matsumoto-- Sir,” Ando said, trying to sound pleading and obsequious but succeeding only in sounding utterly pathetic, “we can’t possibly have our two leading detectives on the biggest case in station history be in a relationship, it would surely disturb the investigation. Besides, they’re both _men_ ,” he continued, letting his distaste show when mentioning the last word. He was obviously disgusted by the thought of a homosexual relationship.

“You sound as if you were jealous Ando, it doesn’t become you,” Matsumoto answered and brushed his stylish bangs out of his eyes. “Let me put it in a way that both you Ando and Akanishi understand. If these photos find their way out of this station then the first person that gets suspected of leaking evidence from an ongoing investigation, which these photos in fact are, will henceforth be you Ando, now wouldn’t it? As far as I know that’s reason enough for immediate discharge. See, problem solved, isn’t that nice?”

“I-,” Ando started but decided it was time to admit his loss. “Understood,” he muttered.

“So there won’t be any consequences for us because of our relationship?” Jin asked Matsumoto carefully.

“Why would there be? As long as you’re doing your job in a professional manner there’s nothing I can punish any of you for. Though I would’ve wished that you had come to me first before we had to sit through this utterly boring and pointless performance by Ando,” Matsumoto sighed and got up from his chair.

“I really don’t want to have to come chasing every time something happens, so keep out of trouble, okay?” Matsumoto asked while turned towards Kazuya, smiling as the boy bowed slightly in return.

As quick as Matsumoto had appeared he had now vanished and Kazuya spared neither Jin nor Ando a single glance as he left as well, heading towards Koyuki’s desk.

“I guess I should thank you for this, because it was you who called Matsumoto right?” Kazuya said and attempted one of his kinder smiles as he bowed.

“No need to thank me,” Koyuki said with a blush and lowered her gaze to her hands. “I couldn’t just sit back knowing that Ando was up to no good,” she added timidly.

“You saved Akanishi’s ass by doing that, so you deserve thanks, and I owe you an apology as well,” Kazuya admitted while looking a bit pained. “I said some really harsh things to you a few days ago, I shouldn’t have dragged into the fight that really was between me and Akanishi... so, I’m sorry for that.”

“It’s alright,” Koyuki hurried to say. “I’m glad that you managed to sort it out with Ji- Akanishi.”

Jin, who had overheard some of the conversation when marching out of Ando’s office, dashed to the desk with shining eyes.

“It was you? You always succeed in surprising me,” Jin said and burst out laughing, already well over the fact that he had nearly lost his job mere minutes ago.

“I just did what everyone with a conscience would have done,” Koyuki said, sounding a little more cheerful.

“Yeah but still, going up against Ando like that!” Jin looked like an approving father, obviously proud of the secretary, knowing how much she feared her boss.

“Yet she wouldn’t have had to if you had just stood your ground and walked out of there straight to Matsumoto’s office,” Kazuya muttered and bowed one last time to Koyuki. “I’m heading back,” he announced and walked off.

“Thank you,” Jin said to Koyuki, sounding serious, before following Kazuya to his office.

“Wow, what got into you?” Jin asked when approaching the boy and seeing his irked look.

“You did, by acting like a coward. Didn’t you see what I was doing? I was playing it cool, not accepting his bullshit, and you just crumbled under pressure and was ready to sign your fucking resignation, for me! That’s not something I want on my conscience!” Kazuya answered, grabbing Jin by his sleeve and pulling him into a deserted corridor.

“How would you have played it off? I know that guy, he would’ve sent the photos right to the press and thrown you to the wolves,” Jin snapped back. “And you can deny it just as much as you want but it’s the truth that it would affect your family business if this got out!“

“And did you not listen to what Matsumoto said? Those photos are evidence in an ongoing investigation, Ando would’ve gotten fired straight away, which Matsumoto would’ve been pleased to inform Ando about if you’d gone to him for help,” Kazuya explained, trying not to punch Jin for being so clueless.

“He would’ve scanned and e-mailed those photos to the press the minute we walked out of the office and I couldn’t take the risk of them getting out even if it meant I would lose my job. My resignation letter could’ve been canceled by Matsumoto but those photos would haunt your family name forever if they ever got out,” Jin said through gritted teeth, getting irritated by the way Kazuya didn’t seem to care about his family. “Did you really think the risk of disappointing your whole family and harming their business would’ve been worth it if I didn’t sign that paper?”

“So what?! No one hardly knows he’s got a son anyway, it’s not like I’m the most eligible bachelor in gossip newspapers who owns night clubs run with dad’s money. If the photos ever even made it to the printers the news would be forgotten in two weeks after some stupid idol had knocked some girl up or something, this is not big news Jin. Have some faith in me, please. Have some faith in my father too.”

Kazuya leaned his forehead against Jin’s chest, his fists clenched so tight in Jin’s leather jacket that his knuckles had turned white.

Jin brought a hand to his forehead, pressing against like he was having a headache.

“Stop treating this as a question of faith. It’s not the public I’m worried about but the business partners and other people who actually care what kind of persons they’re doing business with. And about your father... When have you last talked to him in a way that implies you’re even somehow close? Can you really say without hesitation that he would defend his son’s relationship even if it cost him millions?” 

His voice was calm but firm, signaling that he wasn’t going to give up. He didn’t try to get Kazuya off him but didn’t circle his arms around the boy either. He just leaned against a wall looking fed up.

“I... I guess I’m just afraid of what you’d do in another situation like this, I don’t want you to give up on things for me. If dad had been angry then... well I have my grandfather and I have my brains. I can make my own money. Please Jin, don’t throw yourself under the bus like that again,” Kazuya pleaded and looked up at Jin.

Jin wanted to promise and circle his arms around Kazuya just to wipe away the heart-breaking look on the boy’s face, but he had learned his lesson about discussion and being honest about one’s own feelings, so he didn’t do what his heart screamed him to do but instead kept his voice void of emotions.

“I can promise I won’t but we both know I would be lying. I’m sorry that I must hurt you like this but I don’t regret the choice I made back there. I would take a bullet for you and you know I would literally do it.”

Kazuya looked back at Jin with wide eyes, it baffled him that Jin could say it without doubting himself even a little. Maybe he just had to accept that Jin was ready to sacrifice everything for him, Kazuya guessed that it was a part of what being in a relationship meant, what being in love meant.

“It’d kill me if you did, but it is who you are... and I love you,” Kazuya whispered as he released the grip he had on Jin’s jacket. “Just... think about it carefully, okay? Because if you ended up resenting me for taking something away from you I wouldn’t know how to handle it.”

“I know,” Jin said softly and raised his hand to stroke Kazuya’s cheek. “I love you.”

“If we weren’t at the station I’d kiss you right now,” Kazuya mumbled and leaned into Jin’s hand, relishing in the way it was soft and rough at the same time.

“I’ll respect your professionalism and won’t steal a kiss now but you won’t get off this easily at home,” Jin said and pouted a little.

“God, all this drama over one idiot cop...” Kazuya sighed and straightened his glasses, “one of these days I’ll make sure to get rid of Ando.”

“Do you think I haven’t tried?” Jin asked grimly before shrugging off the irritation mentioning his boss had brought up and grinning. “Anyway, I’m starving! I’ll go buy a sandwich, what kind would you like?”

“Are you always thinking about food?” Kazuya remarked but his own empty stomach made itself reminded, “okay, just an apple, I’ve got a few hundred pages of forensic exams of the crime scene to go through, I don’t want to feel sluggish.”

“So chicken it is,” Jin sing-songed. “I think I’ll go for cheese today.” Jin’s eyes lit up as he imagined the cheese sandwich he was going to eat.

“Just don’t come back with all the food in the cafeteria,” Kazuya lectured lovingly, “I’ll go to the office in the meantime.”

“I won’t,” Jin said and ruffled Kazuya’s hair before happily jumping towards the caféteria.

Ten minutes later Jin was making his way back to his office with an armful of food. He looked at the sandwiches and chocolate he had bought longingly and couldn’t wait to sink his teeth to them. He didn’t care about the stares and whispers following him, he had never been the kind of guy who minded what other people thought.

He was just about to turn to the hallway leading to his office when Taguchi caught up with him, looking nervous.

“What’s up, did you find out something new?” Jin asked and stopped walking.

Taguchi smiled widely at Jin, managing to look even more shaky. “No, not it’s not about the case, I was just wondering if you might want to do me a favour?”

“Sure, what is it?” Jin said with a smile, waiting for Taguchi to ask him with some work or lend money, certainly not expecting the answer he got.

“I just asked Horikita out for a date but I’m really nervous about it, what if she thinks I’m really boring, so... you and Kamenashi are back together right? Maybe you could tag along, like a group date?” Taguchi suggested in a hurry.

“Huh? You want us to come so you could have a double date?” Jin was confused and scratched his head, frowning slightly. “Why don’t you just go alone so you can really get to know each other?”

“Yes, but I’m too nervous, and she really likes you two, please Akanishi,” the tall man pleaded and took his hands out of the pockets in his white coat and pressed his palms together, “I’ll buy the drinks!”

Jin observed how pained the other was for a second, feeling his empathy kicking in. Needless to say, he eventually sighed and nodded. “Okay, we’ll come. Just tell me where and when.”

“Thanks Akanishi! I owe you a big one! I knew I could count on you,” Taguchi piped and caught Jin’s hand amongst all the food. “I’ll send you the address, it’ll be at seven,” he said even happier than before and hurried off down the corridor after waving a few times at Jin.

Jin shook his head with a faint smile and continued walking until coming to his office and strolling in.

“We’re going on a double date tonight,” he announced to Kazuya casually, hoping the boy wouldn’t put up a fight about spending the evening with Horikita.

“A double date?” Kazuya asked dully from behind a pair of big photographs he was holding up in front of him, “with whom?”

“With a couple of people from the station,” Jin said innocently, staring at the roof and hoping Kazuya would leave it be.

“Jin, what did Ryo put you up to? Or was it Ueda? Out with it,” the boy commanded and put the photos down so he could grab one of the sandwiches Jin had piled up in his arms.

“It was neither of them who asked. It was- Kazuya I couldn’t possibly deny! It was Taguchi,” Jin finally burst out, waiting for the storm of objections with a meek puppy-like expression.

“So he finally managed to make a move on Horikita I presume, good for him. Well, I’ll just have to play nice then. I wouldn’t want to ruin his chances,” Kazuya answered and gave Jin a wry smile, “are you going to eat all of that?”

“You’re not going to yell at me?” Jin asked in astonishment, looking at Kazuya with his big round eyes.

Already busy eating his food, Kazuya sat down at the corner of the couch and returned to study the photos. “I like Taguchi, but it’d be nice if you ask me first if it happens again.”

“Well, I kinda thought you would object so I promised without consulting you,” Jin confessed and unwrapped a sandwich just to take a huge bite and almost choke on it.

“So now you’re scheming against me?” Kazuya said with a smile and patted the couch beside him for Jin to sit down.

“I’m not,” Jin pouted but sat down, wrapping his arms around Kazuya’s waist and placing his chin on the boy’s shoulder.

“Anything interesting?”

“I just can’t stop watching the pictures from the second crime scene, I think that if I understand how he works then maybe I can figure out what connects the victims,” Kazuya explained, “you might want to look away while I watch the autopsy photos.”

“Nonsense, I’m not a wimp like Nakamaru,” Jin said and laughed. “Who do you think usually goes through the autopsy reports and photos of my cases? You’re almost insulting me,” Jin said and snorted.

“Well the body of the fourth victim made Ryo turn around and run as soon as Horikita lifted the cover, so I just presumed that you guys weren’t used to it.”

“He’s a regular officer, he’s not usually in contact with the bodies,” Jin said and couldn’t resist the temptation to blow some air to Kazuya’s exposed ear.

The boy shivered and concentrated on his food ignoring Jin as he continued browsing through the photos.

“The date starts at seven, let’s quickly visit home before that instead of going straight from work,” Jin murmured to Kazuya’s ear.

“I’m not sure I want to know what you’re planning,” Kazuya whispered with slightly pink cheeks.

“I wasn’t thinking about anything dirty,” Jin defended himself, “...unless you want to.” Jin’s voice was suddenly amused and low.

“Oh, stop it,” Kazuya murmured, his cheeks turning into a deeper shade of red.

“Who would’ve thought that out of the two of us it’s you with such dirty thoughts,” Jin hummed, his tone still silent and low and his breathing hot on Kazuya’s neck and ear.

“Stop it, we’re at work Jin, I wasn’t thinking about anything...” Kazuya whispered back and tried to wriggle out of Jin’s grip, but the other was giving him goose bumps all over and his legs went inexplicably weak.

“I’m not doing anything, I’m barely even touching you,” Jin answered and chuckled to Kazuya’s ear. “What, don’t tell me I’m having some kind of effect on you just by sitting here,” he teased huskily before giving up to his urges and placing his lips on Kazuya’s neck, biting on the skin seductively.

“Of course you are!” Kazuya hissed but was soon lost in Jin’s touch.

Jin let his lips travel freely on Kazuya’s neck, mostly with light kisses but occasionally he bit or sucked on the skin. “What happened to your professionalism, love?” he teased before kissing the sensitive area behind Kazuya’s ear.

“I’m not the one forcing you into a corner,” Kazuya bit back and turned his head sideways so he could look at Jin, “I seriously don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Should we stop?” Jin whispered half-seriously to Kazuya’s ear and slid his hands down to settle on the boy’s hips.

“No-I mean yes, yes we should stop.”

Jin detached himself from Kazuya and got up from the couch to sit on his chair. “In that case I better have some distance or I won’t be able to control myself,” Jin simply said and turned around to calm himself down. Needless to say, the previous scenario had caused him to feel unbearably hot.

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” Kazuya mused and straightened his clothes before he returned his focus on the sandwich, even though he had a hard time concentrating as he couldn’t help but to gaze at Jin with warm eyes. He always did that, he noted, let his eyes wander to Jin wherever they were. It had started weeks and weeks ago and he hadn’t thought about it until now.

-

“As usual, the great oak tree was right.” Horikita was smiling a little, looking a little bit insane as she watched Kazuya and Jin, who were sitting across the table.

“About what?” Kazuya asked before he could stop himself, cursing his own curiosity.

“About you two getting back together. Don’t you remember the prophecy I got?” Horikita asked and ate a forkful of her meal that looked beyond suspicious.

“I think everybody could’ve made that prophecy...” Kazuya murmured back, remembering how everybody had called him an idiot and told him to and talk it out with Jin.

“She’s great at them? Isn’t she?” Taguchi announced proudly and ignored Kazuya’s irritated look.

“Thank you, Mr. Bad-Puns,” Horikita said and smiled almost sweetly. “The future looks bright for you two,” she continued, addressing her words to Kazuya and Jin.

“Really? What about your future?” Jin asked back, referring to the woman and Taguchi.

“It will look a little brighter if Mr. Bad-Puns will pay for my dinner,” Horikita said.

“Of course, it’s a date and I asked you out,” Taguchi answered with a big smile, looking almost relieved.

Jin searched Kazuya’s hand under the table and squeezed it lightly. To be honest he wanted to go home and have a little continuation to their session in his office but he had promised to have a date so he would.

Horikita looked at the couple and squinted her eyes a little when sensing Jin’s aura. “So you’ve gone to that stage already,” she marked, looking a little surprised. “I wouldn’t have thought it would happen that quickly, considering Mr. Demon-Child’s character.”

Kazuya cleared his throat and shot her a poisonous glance over the table, even though he was quite aware she wouldn’t take the hint, “So, how’s everybody’s food? My steak is delicious,” he said in a hurry, trying to take the attention away from Horikita’s statement.

“I still wanted pizza,” Jin sighed longingly. “But I guess this hamburger is alright. And there’s nothing wrong with Kazuya’s character,” he added to Horikita.

“Of course not, I just thought that it would take a little longer for him to want any sex,” the woman answered, not the least embarrassed even though everyone around her were blushing. “But I guess you must be really good at turning people on then, Akanishi.”

Kazuya nearly choked at his water and Taguchi was staring back and forth between the two other men, trying to figure out what Horikita was implying. He had apparently not been paying their conversation full attention.

“How was it?” Horikita finally asked Kazuya, obviously not understanding how inappropriate her question was. Jin was embarrassed but also a little bit amused by the way Horikita unintentionally trolled his boyfriend so he didn’t step in.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kazuya said as calmly as he could, “do you mind talking about something else?”

“What? What IS she talking about?” Taguchi asked as he looked frantically at the rest of the group, earning a kick under the table from Kazuya that made him quiet down and concentrate on something else.

Jin threw his head back and laughed loudly at the uneasy look on Kazuya’s face. “A taboo, eh?” he asked quietly when Horikita and Taguchi resumed eating and talking about work.

“Aren’t you embarrassed even a little bit?” Kazuya quietly replied and gave Jin a short look.

“I was but then I saw your face and the situation became hilarious,” Jin said with a grin. “I almost feel bad for tarnishing you, seeing how innocent you are.”

“Shut up,” Kazuya replied but found Jin’s hand under the table again, lacing their fingers together.

“Would you like to spend the night at my place, Mr. Bad-Puns? I rented an interesting documentary about contagious diseases brought by aliens,” Horikita asked Taguchi and brushed briefly over his hand with her palm.

“I’d love to,” Taguchi answered and smiled like he’d won at the lottery, giving Jin a small nod of gratitude.

“How cute,” Jin whispered to Kazuya and giggled. “Should we join them?” he asked teasingly, “I bet you would find that documentary interesting.”

“I’d rather listen to Nakamaru beatboxing a whole night,” Kazuya retorted, trying not to imagine all the crazy speculations a documentary like that would present.

“What do you think, should we excuse ourselves now that it seems to be going great with those two?”

Kazuya frowned and seemed to think very hard about something very difficult before he answered a bit insecurely, “is that okay? Can you do that? I mean, it isn’t rude?”

“Horikita,” Jin started, ignoring Kazuya’s question and looking at the woman who had observed them knowingly the whole time they had been whispering. “You already know what we’d like to do now, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Horikita said. “Have fun.” She then turned to Taguchi. “Akanishi and Mr. Demon-Child would like to spend some time in private, do you mind finishing the meal alone with me?”

“I don’t mind at all, I see you at work then?” Taguchi said and turned to the other two.

“Sure, have a fun night.” Jin winked at him before getting up and guiding Kazuya out of the restaurant, stopping briefly at the counter to pay for their meals.

-

Kazuya had just barely made it inside the door before Jin pulled him back against his chest, pressing his head into the back of Kazuya’s neck.

“Alone at last,” Jin whispered huskily and let his hands roam along Kazuya’s stomach and chest, slipping under the shirt as they went.

“You’re the one who agreed to go on a date with them,” Kazuya replied and let his head fall back against Jin’s shoulder as the other started kissing him everywhere he could reach.

“Don’t sulk, you promised me a kiss earlier today,” Jin retorted, trying his hardest not to just pull Kazuya around by force, instead he took a calming breath and let the boy turn by himself, looking up at Jin with a sweet smile.

“I did.”

Kazuya leaned up and caught Jin’s lips with his, drawing out a moan from Jin as he welcomed Jin’s tongue and pulled him closer. The kiss was heated and messy, almost as if they were making up for the lost time.

“I was right then, about you being the dirty one,” Jin teased as they broke apart. Kazuya just glared at him a little before kicking off his shoes and walking towards the kitchen.

“Oh no, you’re not escaping this time,” Jin chuckled and grabbed Kazuya by the arm, pulling him back into his embrace, and headed for the bedroom, “especially since i know you’ve been waiting for this,” he added teasingly. The boy didn’t have time to answer before Jin had pulled him down on the bed with him, placing him on his lap so he could pull the shirt off Kazuya.

“Hope you don’t mind,” Jin whispered before he let his hands slide down Kazuya’s sides, kissing and nipping at every inch of soft skin on Kazuya’s throat and neck he could reach.

Kazuya took a steady grip on Jin’s shoulders as the other played with skin, making heat and electricity surge through his body every now and then, pooling at his groin. It took Kazuya much self restraint to keep from collapsing against Jin every time he returned to his sensitive neck, instead he moaned out loud and threw his head back, unconsciously pressing down against Jin. He could tell that Jin was also getting hard, even through layers of denim, and it made him think about last night and how incredible it had been feeling Jin’s hands on him. Would it feel the same for Jin if Kazuya touched Jin that way, he wondered but was drawn back to reality when Jin groaned into his ear, pushing him back against the mattress.

“I can see you’re thinking about something,” Jin whispered as he showered the boy’s face with butterfly kisses, holding back in case something was bothering the younger.

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Kazuya hurriedly explained and started pulling Jin’s shirt over his head, admiring Jin’s firm muscles and tanned skin.

“You sure?” Jin inquired and caught Kazuya’s eyes.

“Yes,” Kazuya answered and smiled, angling his head as Jin immediately kissed him passionately, tasting every part of Kazuya’s mouth. As the kiss turned sloppy and mixed up by their moans, Kazuya pressed his hips against Jin’s and arched his back, his hands roaming over Jin’s broad shoulders.

“Jin, can we take these off,” he panted in between kissing and biting, gesturing for Jin to give him enough room to pull his pants off. They were getting really tight and uncomfortable under the weight of Jin and pressure of his almost completely hard erection.

“Mmm, sure thing,” Jin whispered in his ear, making shivers run down his spine as he moved lower, pulling his jeans and boxers off in one go as Kazuya raised his hips.

“God you’re hot,” Jin moaned and let his eyes wander lustfully over Kazuya’s body as he took his own pants off, then crawling back on top of the boy. He settled with one leg between the other’s and groaned as Kazuya jerked at the sudden sensation of something touching his erection without anything in between. They both settled into lazy rolling of the hips and thirsty kisses that had a hard time staying to the lips as they both grew warmer and more sensitive.

As Jin shifted a bit to lighten his weight on top of Kazuya, the boy remembered what he had been thinking about earlier, about how Jin might feel when touched. Caught up in the moment, Kazuya turned to his side, forcing Jin to do the same and looked deep into his eyes.

“Jin, does it... does it feel the same to touch yourself as if-”

“As if what, Kazuya?” Jin encouraged as he could see how the embarrassment caught up with the boy.

“As if I would touch you,” Kazuya finally got out, hiding his face in the pillow as he did.

Jin chuckled a little at Kazuya’s cute behaviour and caught Kazuya’s hand with his, moving it lower until it rested against his thigh, close to his groin.

“You remember what felt good for you right?” he whispered when Kazuya dared to look up again and closed his eyes, hoping it might help to take the awkwardness out of the situation.

Kazuya blinked a few times before he decided he was just being silly and moved his hand so it settled against Jin’s hard erection, enjoying the way Jin shivered and moaned in front of him. Encouraged by the other’s obvious liking, he curled his fingers around the hard flesh and slowly started to move it like Jin had done to him.

“Kazuya...” Jin moaned and reached out to kiss him, joining Kazuya’s hand with his own, quickening the speed as he placed his other hand on Kazuya’s neglected arousal. The boy groaned and unwittingly thrust into Jin’s hand, not knowing what to do with the hot surges of pleasure making his head spin and his breath catch in his throat.

Jin set the pace, but soon enough Kazuya was eagerly moving his hand over Jin’s erection, now and then throwing his head back when the feeling of Jin’s hand on him overpowered him. Even though he wanted the heavenly feeling to last forever, he felt how he was getting closer, shaking a little each time Jin pushed his erection into his hand. Kazuya moaned Jin’s name as he locked eyes with the other, arching slightly and thrusting into Jin’s eager hand as he felt his orgasm roll over him.

The sight alone of Kazuya coming, panting and shaking, made Jin close his hand a bit firmer around Kazuya’s now erratic hand and groaned as he felt his own release coming closer. A few tugs later he let out a silent moan, biting down hard on his lower lip as he came over his and Kazuya’s joined hands, trying to look at Kazuya as white static covered his eyes while intense pleasure rolled through his body.

When they both had come down from their highs, Kazuya shifted closer despite sticky skin and sheets. He rested his head against Jin’s chest, as Jin now had rolled over on his back, and felt his breathing calm down in time with Jin’s.

“That was-”

“Even better than last time,” Jin finished and hugged Kazuya closer, kissing him on his hair, “and you did great,” he added as if he could already suspect what Kazuya would be asking next.

“I... okay,” Kazuya whispered and was happy that Jin couldn’t see his face, “you did most of the work though.”

“There’s always next time, and the next, and the next...” Jin mused and sounded really pleased with the thought.

Half an hour later they were back in the bed after a shower and a quick change of some sheets, Jin resting against the headboard of the bed as he ate chocolate ice cream and told Kazuya about funny things that had happened to him and Pi during their training. He hardly noticed that Kazuya had started to slip off to sleep before the other started to feel really heavy.

“Hey, let’s get down under the covers,” Jin whispered softly and got out from underneath the boy so he could put the now empty ice cream bucket on the floor. When he finally managed to find his way under the blanket, Kazuya was already sleeping, so he pulled him closer and put an arm over his waist, spooning him from behind. Jin silently wished that he could always fall asleep that way, with the scent of Kazuya’s hair mixed with his shampoo under his nose.

Outside lurked monsters in the night.

-

“Are you sure you don’t want help emptying your dorm room out too?” Ryo teased and threw an old pillow at Kazuya and sent a spray of feathers out as it went.

“No, I’m not moving in with Jin, I’m just gathering my stuff up,” Kazuya answered and tried to wave the feathers out of his face, “Ueda will have a fit when he sees what you did to that poor pillow.”

“He’ll survive,” Ryo said with a big smirk and started rummaging through a drawer in the guest room dresser, “where’s Akanishi at anyway? Weekend shift?”

“Yeah, he’s got a half day today and then he’s free on Sunday and Monday,” Kazuya answered absent-mindedly while joining Ryo at the dresser.

Luckily, Kazuya thought, he had thought of going over to Ueda’s house because he wasn’t sure how he’d handle another day at work with Jin right now. His skin still tingled and he had butterflies in his stomach that swirled every time he even thought of Jin. Waking up with Jin, falling asleep with Jin, hugging Jin, kissing Jin, talking with Jin, laughing with Jin, all of that had quickly become his favorite things, almost without him noticing it. Last night had enhanced it even further.

“If you don’t stop smiling like a fool I’ll hit you,” Ryo grumbled and elbowed Kazuya in the side, just enough to drag Kazuya out of his thoughts.

“I wasn’t smiling, why would I smile?” Kazuya muttered back but realized that he indeed had been smiling as he thought about Jin.

“Anyway, do you have a box or something I could put these things in, I don’t think they’ll fit in my bag and I need to take the train back to my dorm,” Kazuya asked, trying to change the subject as Ryo was giving him that big predatory smile again.

“Sure, I’ll get you one of our old moving boxes. If you need me I’ll be in the attic digging them out,” Ryo replied and threw another pillow at Kazuya before backing out of the room, ducking as Kazuya sent the pillow flying back at him.

As the irritating police officer left the room, Kazuya sighed and dropped face first against the bed. How had he ended up being so creepily in love? Horikita’s words about him falling so quick for Jin’s charms resurfaced and he couldn’t help but chuckle a little at how ridiculous that whole double date had been. At least they had managed to help Taguchi. Kazuya liked him, he was smart and hardworking, experienced in fields Kazuya found interests in himself, so he was glad that he’d come to them for help.

Just as he was about to roll over to his back and get up again so he could put things back in order, his phone chimed and the vibrations sent shivers down his leg. Repeating a “please” over and over again, Kazuya reached for the phone and made a victory gesture as he opened his inbox and saw that it was from the killer. He had waited for him to contact them again and this meant that the game was still on.

_I was jealous, what do you see in him that you don’t in me? I wanted to take a look for myself and maybe I’ll keep him. Or maybe I’ll throw him out with the garbage._

Kazuya stared at the words while holding his breath. He couldn’t mean Jin, he just couldn’t. The sounds of Ryo rummaging around up in the attic didn’t reach his brain as he was too busy thinking about the possible meanings of the mail. Maybe he didn’t mean Jin, but who else? As panic started to set in, he opened his contact list with shaking fingers and dialed Jin’s number, clenching his other hand into a fist as he waited for the call to connect.

The number was unavailable at the moment. He couldn’t reach Jin. The panic set in full force and Kazuya rushed out of the guest room to bolt up the ladder to the attic.

“Ryo, the killer has got Jin!” he shouted as soon as he climbed.

“WHAT?!” Ryo shouted back and appeared behind a few piles of big boxes, “how do you know?”

“I got a mail, here, look!” Kazuya hurriedly explained and pushed his phone into Ryo’s hands.

The police officer read the mail with a grim face and took a deep breath as he finished and handed Kazuya the phone back.

“This is bad, but don’t worry, Akanishi is tougher than a cockroach and we will beat the killer this time,” Ryo reassured him with a steady voice, “let’s go, I’ll call the station and then we’ll go down there to join them.”

-

Okay, calm down, it couldn’t be that bad. Jin was strong and well trained, he would come to and then the killer would have a hard time keeping him under control. He might’ve already escaped. Kazuya tried his best to think positive as he sat in the car with Ryo, listening to the officer keeping a constant dialogue with the station.

But what if... the thought of Jin being tortured made tears swell up in Kazuya’s eyes, tears he forcefully kept at bay. “ _Or maybe I’ll throw him out with the garbage_ ” echoed through his head as Ryo made a sharp turn and shouted a few obscenities at another driver. All the images of the previous victims came flashing before his eyes, burnt, disemboweled, tortured and shot, hanged... what would the next step be? All the tossing and turning of the car made Kazuya’s stomach turn and he felt sweat forming on his forehead even though the AC was on. He felt so completely lost and helpless. And he felt alone, a terrible surge of emptiness filling his heart. Jin was dead, he suddenly felt so sure of it and the emotions that he had tried so hard to keep calm hit him like a wall of water.

The tears came rolling down his face as he leaned forward to calm his spinning head down, he couldn’t focus like this. If Jin was caught then they needed to catch the killer, it was no time to freak like this.

“Calm down Kazuya, it’ll be alright,” Ryo said between gritted teeth as he sped up on a straight and skillfully zigzagged through traffic, “please don’t cry, you know I can’t handle it,” he pleaded and squeezed his shoulder hastily before he needed to change gear.

Kazuya leaned back against the backrest again and tried to take control over his body but he was shaking and sweating as adrenaline was pumping through his veins. Jin meant so much to him, so much more than anyone had ever meant, more than he treasured himself. So it was with relief he saw the police station up ahead. Ryo seemed to think the same way, because he sped up even further and threw the car over the other lane so he could enter the underground parking lot where their private cars were parked.

The car had barely even stopped as Kazuya threw his seat belt off and opened the door to get out. His legs wouldn’t carry his weight properly but he managed to stand up while leaning against the car. He swore at his own useless body before he darted off in the direction of the elevators, Ryo close at his heels. Kazuya was just about to round a pillar as he heard a car door close, he spun around, all his nerves prickling with fear, but what he saw made him stop in the middle of a step and sink to his knees.

It was Jin, stepping out of Horikita’s car, closely followed by the short woman.

“Kazuya what is it?!” Ryo asked with a worried tone, trying to pull him up to his feet again before he saw what Kazuya just had seen, “Oh my god, Jin! You fucking bastard” he shouted, sounding furious.

Jin looked at Ryo and Kazuya in confusion, wondering why on earth Ryo was looking so angry whereas Kazuya was only shocked. He pondered for a moment, looking back and forward between Horikita and the two before coming up with the only sensible explanation for Ryo to be so furious.

Jin threw his hands up. “It’s nothing! She just wanted me to come to some museum because she had wanted to see this display and there was no one to go with her,” he quickly explained. “Nothing happened!”

Horikita was observing the three with a knowing smile. “It was a fantastic display,” she pointed at Kazuya and Ryo.

“You fucker! I don’t give a shit about what you two have done, the whole station is at red alert because the killer contacted Kazuya and said that he was going to snatch you!” Ryo growled back and angrily pulled Kazuya up, “Kazuya you’ll have to punch him or I freaking will instead!”

“No Ryo it’s okay,” Kazuya answered weakly and fought to regain his balance. His legs were really giving him a hard time and his heart was beating so loud his head was hurting with each stroke.

“Eh?” Jin succeeded in voicing out in the middle of his confusion. He didn’t get the situation at all and most certainly didn’t understand the great danger he had been in.

“So it was the murderer...” Horikita mumbled to herself, nodding while looking pondering.

“Could you give me a hand here?” Kazuya asked Ryo who was busy glaring at Jin, “I think I’m going to be sick...” Legs once more giving in under him. All the adrenaline and fears were making him queasy now that he wasn’t making a use of all the energy anymore. Jin was safe, he thought, but they had barely made it this time.

Jin rushed to Kazuya and knelt beside him. “What’s the matter?” he asked, still not getting what had happened and why everyone were so pumped up. “Are you sick?”

Ryo had already picked his phone up again and started to tell the others the news, stepping away from the scene.

“I got a mail, this mail,” Kazuya explained and gave Jin his phone, “and no one managed to get a hold of you... so we were preparing for the worst case sce-” he continued but his voice died as he held back a sob and threw his arms around Jin.

Jin read the mail several times before fully getting the situation. He hugged Kazuya close out of reflex, partially to neglect the surge of fear trying to get to him.

“It’s alright, he didn’t get me,” he soothed and stroked Kazuya’s hair.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Kazuya asked, voice muffled against Jin’s clothes. He was taking deep breaths, drawing in Jin’s scent just to make sure he wasn’t imagining things.

“Horikita took me to some weird museum and I wasn’t allowed to keep it on,” Jin explained and couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony. “Maybe Horikita really has some magic powers, taking me out today.”

“I read the fortune with my tarot cards and they said something terrible would happen to you, Akanishi.” Horikita had now appeared beside Kazuya and Jin. “Keep your eyes open next time, I don’t like messing with destiny, it’s always a great risk.”

“Thank you Horikita,” Kazuya mumbled, still not moving away from Jin. However much he doubted her psychic powers he was indescribably grateful that she had somehow managed to snag Jin out of the hands of the killer.

“Still not believing in my talents, Mr. Demon-Child?” Horikita asked, sounding insulted. “Well, in time maybe...” she continued to herself, starting to walk away without sparing a glance to the two.

“Do you want to go home?” Jin asked Kazuya carefully while circling his arms around him and lifting him up.

“Hey! Don’t leave me here to clear up the mess you created!” Ryo barked but quickly started to grin as Jin got Kazuya off the ground, ”you owe me one Akanishi!” he said as he turned and walked off to the elevators after Horikita, shouting at her to hold the door.

“Thanks,” Kazuya felt his heart calming down and his head didn’t feel like exploding anymore, “but I think I can walk on my own now, just let me collect all my limbs,” he joked.

“Collect them in my car, I’m going to take you home now,” Jin said firmly and walked to his car. “I’m sorry for startling you.”

“It’s not your fault, silly,” Kazuya retorted, enjoying Jin’s closeness even though in normal circumstances he would be more than irritated at Jin lifting him up like that.

“Just let someone know where you’re headed next time you take off like that.”

“She just appeared and pulled me along saying she had a surprise and the next thing I know is that I’m watching some old teapots in some old moth-eaten museum,” Jin giggled. “It was awfully boring.”

“Serves you right for making me think you might be dead...” Kazuya mumbled back. Happily sinking back in the passenger seat after Jin managed to open the car door so he could stumble to sit.

-

Jin was silently observing Kazuya, who was asleep and tightly clung to him. It had taken a lot of time for the boy to calm down enough to fall asleep and Jin felt bad for worrying him, even though it wasn’t his fault. He sighed and closed his eyes.

Then it hit him. He had almost been caught by a serial killer who would’ve done god knows what to him. If it wasn’t for Horikita, he could be dead by now. And strangely enough, it wasn’t the thought of being tortured or killed that terrified him, it was the thought of not being able to see Kazuya ever again.

He had gotten away now alright but maybe the killer would strike again and try to hunt him down? They would have no room for mistakes now, the murderer was beyond dangerous and most certainly no one to reason with when he got you in his trap. When would he strike? What would he do? He couldn’t count on Horikita to always be there to save his ass.

Jin suddenly felt very anxious. He shifted his position restlessly and tried to forget but as time passed on he found it impossible. The silence was intimidating and even feeling the warmth of Kazuya pressed against his chest couldn’t calm him down. It all could be over in a heartbeat.

Jin kissed Kazuya’s forehead lightly and wriggled loose from under him, careful not to wake up his boyfriend. He then got out of the bed and tiptoed to the balcony, grabbing his cigarettes and lighter on the way. He needed some calming smoke down his lungs and some time to think in fresh air.

-

That chime, he could swear he had heard it before. Sleepily, Kazuya cracked an eye open and tried to focus on something so he could find out where he was. Jin’s bedroom wall came into view and then the bed he lay on. After managing to roll off his arm which had somehow ended up underneath him, Kazuya reached out for his phone, the source of the familiar chime.

The screen lit up as he unlocked it and he was momentarily blinded by it, blinking to get his eyesight back again. He had gotten a new mail, a new mail from the killer, still magically manifesting itself in his inbox no matter how many times he changed the password. He felt a bit anxious about opening it, maybe he should just forward it to Taguchi or Nakamaru, but curiosity took over and he held his breath as he touched the screen to read it.

_We missed each other this time, but next time maybe I’ll manage to catch him. I learn from my mistakes, do you my slow turtle?_

Jin, Kazuya thought and reached out to touch him. But he was met by an empty bed and cold sheets.

“Jin?” he whispered with a raspy voice, pushing himself up off the bed with his arms. The room was empty and the apartment dark. “Jin?” he asked again, feeling a bit frantic as he stumbled out of the bed and kicked a sheet that he had twisted around one of his legs out of his way.

“Where the fuck are you?” Kazuya hissed through heavy breaths. He couldn’t spot the other in the living room and the bathroom to his left was empty, so he set course to the kitchen. But that room was also empty and by now Kazuya could feel the panic getting dangerously close again. He hurried out of the kitchen, back towards the bedroom to get his phone, when he noticed that the balcony door stood slightly open in the living room. He quickly ran over and pulled the door ajar, almost crying out of relief when he saw Jin sitting against the wall, pulling a drag of his cigarette.

“Jin,” he happily exclaimed and knelt beside the other so he could crawl close and make sure that he wasn’t having a weird dream.

“Did you wake up?” Jin asked gently and quickly wiped away some tears. He had been thinking a lot and smoked at least five cigarettes and somewhere in the middle of his horrifying mental images of dying and leaving Kazuya alone he had started crying.

Kazuya noticed Jin’s slightly puffy eyes and damp cheeks, realizing that Jin must’ve cried out on the balcony all alone. He wondered why he had felt the urge to hide away like that.

“Mhm, I got another e-mail, from the killer and... I got worried when I couldn’t find you,” Kazuya whispered back, “but now it’s fine again.”

Jin put the cigarette out in the ashtray and opened his arms. “Let me hold you for a second,” he pleaded quietly, beginning to cry again. He just needed to feel Kazuya to reassure himself that no matter what happened, at least they still had each other, even if it was just for that night.

“Jin why are you crying?” Kazuya asked as he settled in Jin’s arms, nuzzling his face against Jin’s neck and his long and wild hair.

“I- I don’t want to say goodbye to you,” he said silently. “And if he gets me, I’ll have to.” Jin pulled Kazuya so close it almost hurt and cried against his hair, looking more vulnerable than Kazuya had ever seen him.

“I’d never want to lose you either.” Kazuya straightened up so he could hold Jin’s face gently between his hands, wiping some tears off with his thumbs. “But we can’t look into the future, we can only try to prevent it from happening.”

“Yeah,” Jin sniffled and tried to compose himself. “But if- If the worst happens, I want you to know that I never, ever wanted to leave you. And you still need to live,” he said, looking into Kazuya’s brown eyes. He hated saying it aloud but as Kazuya had said: they couldn’t look into the future and he needed to make this clear.

Jin’s words stirred up so many emotions in Kazuya that he almost felt disoriented in the middle of it all, he was only starting to get in touch with his feeling self and this proved to be almost an overdose. Still looking into Jin’s eyes he thought for a few moments before he managed to think of something coherent to say.

“I would feel terribly sad and alone and unhappy and I’d be a total wreck, but I’d never doubt you.”

“But it would pass and after that you must not be afraid of loving again.” Jin kissed Kazuya’s forehead and dragged him in for a hug. “If you lose me that is, otherwise I want you to be only mine,” he continued and pouted a little against Kazuya’s neck, slowly feeling better again.

“Don’t worry,” Kazuya chuckled, “I wouldn’t let anyone touch me like this even if you did die, this is your special privilege. Anybody else and they’d get their skull smashed in.”

Jin laughed. “You rascal. I feel special.” He blindly sought for Kazuya’s lips and kissed him, his mouth tasting salty from the tears. “I love you,” he mumbled.

“I love you too” Kazuya answered, shivering as he now knew just how much. Words didn’t seem enough anymore.

“Let’s go back to bed,” Jin gently said when they parted from the kiss and got up, pulling Kazuya with him as he made his way back to the bedroom.

Jin settled on the bed and pulled the blanket tightly over them as soon as Kazuya had crawled to rest in his arms. Jin possessively threw a leg over Kazuya’s and pressed the boy firmly against his chest, kissing his face all around.

As Jin kissed and hugged him, Kazuya could only relax and let Jin take what comfort he could out of it. He hated seeing Jin crying, because just as Ryo, he never knew how to handle it. After a few moments, when Jin had slightly eased his grip around him, Kazuya reached out and kissed Jin softly on his lips before leaning his forehead against the others.

“You might want to look at the new mail I got, he’s not backing down,” Kazuya whispered.

“Okay, show me,” Jin sighed and as Kazuya gave him his cellphone, he quickly found the e-mail and read it, his expression making him look older and older with each word he saw on the screen.

“As I suspected,” Jin said, looking utterly tired. “He won’t back off until he’s killed me.”

“I’m not sure he wants you killed... he’s just jealous that you’re taking up time from the game he’s playing with me,” Kazuya explained and started to gently stroke Jin’s back, “but if you stay around me he won’t be able to get you.”

“Don’t leave,” Jin whispered and buried his head to Kazuya’s neck. “Let’s stay together from now on,” he murmured against Kazuya’s skin.

“Of course, he’s not getting his dirty hands on my brutish cop,” Kazuya stated with determination, “and if he even as much as tries again I’ll make sure he’ll regret the day he started this game with me!”

Jin nibbled on Kazuya’s neck. “You’re cute when you’re determined,” he chuckled. “I almost feel like a princess that’s being protected.”

“I’m sorry to break your illusion of being the knight in shining armor,” Kazuya chuckled and bent his neck as Jin left burning but sweet marks wherever he could reach, “I’m tempted to pick up on Ryo’s habits of calling Tatsuya a princess, but extending it to you as well,” he joked.

“You wouldn’t dare, Miss Prom Queen,” Jin shot back and sucked on Kazuya’s skin hard enough to leave a kiss mark.

“What’s with this talk about me and proms? I haven’t even gone to one,” Kazuya pouted.

“I would’ve asked you to go with me if I knew you back then.” Jin grinned before kissing his way up to Kazuya’s lips. “And you would’ve been the one wearing the dress,” he added and stuck out his tongue.

Kazuya drew in his breath sounding offended, “it doesn’t change the fact that you’re the one with a girly face,” he said and decided to wipe the grin of Jin’s face with another kiss.

“Shut up, pretty boy,” Jin huffed before topping Kazuya and deepening the kiss. “I was super popular when I was in high school. Every girl wanted to date me,” he proudly announced to Kazuya when their lips parted.

“I’m pretty sure they would’ve like my looks too if I didn’t scare everybody off,” Kazuya chuckled and searched for Jin’s eyes. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes. But I’m getting curious here,” Jin said and smiled. ”Tell me about your high school years. Were you the silent nerd who didn’t have any friends and who threw the Valentine Chocolates away if he got any?”

“I’ve been the same all my life... so I wasn’t quiet at all, just arrogant, a typical know-it-all, and I refused to talk to anyone but Tatsuya... They weren’t smart at all so I figured that I didn’t need to talk to them, except for my teammates in the baseball team of course,” Kazuya explained, “and about the chocolates, I always gave them to one of Tatsuya’s classmates, or more like he stole them before Tatsuya managed to eat them,” he added with a smile.

“Eh...” Jin said and smirked. “I can imagine you being like that. I bet you would’ve hated me so much if we went to the same school.”

“I didn’t hate anyone, I just didn’t know how to deal with people that weren’t like me” Kazuya said and started to imitate his own younger and more high pitched voice, “Akanishi, stop eating my lunch! I’m the star of the baseball team, keep your hands off my food,” Kazuya joked and feigned an irritated face.

“You’d probably drive me crazy by following me around everywhere, but Tatsuya would order me to be more friendly and drag us along with his friends to karaoke and ramen shops until I started to loosen up,” Kazuya continued while looking with warm eyes at Jin.

“To be honest, I don’t think I would’ve spared a second glance to you back then. My school years were spent on chasing girls and having an endless prank war with Pi,” Jin confessed. “I was the guy on the backseat who was always late, never did his homework and wouldn’t shut up during the lessons.”

“Ah, the kind that scored worst in the class every test and threw me into the dumpsters until Tatsuya chased them down a few blocks one night,” Kazuya said, almost to himself, “Okay, I would’ve hated you,” he admitted with a lopsided grin.

“I never bullied anyone!” Jin was now looking offended. “Do you really think that I could do that? The only guy I purposefully picked on was Pi.” Jin rolled around to sulk.

“Oh? High morals even then?” Kazuya asked, settling on Jin’s stomach instead, “well, that makes more sense.”

“Who do you think made sure Horikita wasn’t bullied to death back then,” Jin grumbled and turned around so that his back was now towards Kazuya.

“You went to school with Yamashita AND Horikita?! Who else do you know from before?” Kazuya asked, feeling intrigued. He ignored Jin’s sulking attitude and crawled after the other.

“Yes, we’ve been together with Pi ever since middle school, Horikita I met in high school. And I got to know Koki in the police academy. The rest I met at the station. I even helped Horikita with getting her job there. Haven’t you noticed how she calls me by my last name instead of some weird nickname?”

“Yeah... but I didn’t really pay attention to it, I try not to think too much about her,” Kazuya said, feeling a bit uncomfortable even thinking about the weird woman.

“Well, she stopped calling me Mr. Cry-Baby as a sign of gratitude after I got her the job, she asked what I wanted in return and it was the only thing I could think of.” Jin rolled over so that he was facing Kazuya again. “And I lied,“ he added. “I think I would’ve fallen for you even if we met in high school.” Jin claimed Kazuya’s lips and devoured his mouth slowly.

Kazuya smiled into the kiss, making himself comfortable against the sheets and threw his arms around the other’s neck. He found it intriguing how Jin seemed to have been drawn to him right from the start, because he himself couldn’t find a single reason for it.

“What makes you think that?” he asked as he started nibbling on Jin’s lips instead, unable to hide his fascination.

“Because ever since I tackled you on that crime scene I was trapped by you, even if it took a lot of time to accept it” Jin confessed quietly.

“You’re strange,” Kazuya mused and laughed softly at his realization, “we’re both weirdos.”

Jin chuckled and kissed Kazuya again. “Time to sleep?” he asked, realizing how much time they had used on talking in the middle of the night.

“Yeah, but only if you feel better again, and if you promise not to sneak away to cry like that again,” Kazuya demanded.

“I’ll wake you up if I feel like crying, I promise.”

“Good, then we can go to sleep,” Kazuya stated and happily shifted closer to Jin, his face against the other’s chest and hummed in content as Jin entwined their legs and placed his arm on Kazuya’s waist.

“Good night princess,” Kazuya whispered.

“Good night Prom Queen,” Jin muttered back.

-

Jin opened his eyes and stretched his sore limbs, enjoying the feeling of for once not being in a hurry. He couldn't remember the last time he had been able to sleep enough without worrying about getting up to get to work on time.

Soon Jin noticed that what he was cuddling wasn't Kazuya but Condoriano. He turned around just to face Kazuya's back. They had, again, rolled over somewhere during the night. Jin chuckled and glanced at the clock just to widen his eyes in shock.

”Eh?! Half past twelve?!” he shrieked and sprang up. Kazuya stirred and opened an eye, looking at Jin somehow irritatedly.

”What are you yelling?” he mumbled and tossed over to catch Jin by the waist and force him back down, not intending to get up just yet.

”It's already past midday!” Jin said but laid back down hesitantly.

”Who cares, it's our day off,” Kazuya purred and cuddled against Jin's chest. The other couldn't help chuckling at the sight. He caught Kazuya's chin and brought his head up just to catch his lips and moan. Kazuya felt awake in seconds as he felt Jin's lips on his and he didn't waste a thought for drawing back.

”You're right, who cares,” Jin said in amusement and deepened the kiss. He shifted so that they were now side by side, both hesitant to part from the kiss.

”We should get up,” Kazuya said as they finally broke apart, both slightly out of breath.

Jin eyed Kazuya for a while before grinning sneakily and reaching for his ear. ”Or we could just stay in the bed,” he whispered huskily and bit on Kazuya's earlobe, earning a gasp.

Kazuya didn't have any objections so he gladly allowed Jin to roll over and pin him underneath his hot and muscular body. Jin wasted no time in catching Kazuya's lips again, this time more demanding. He pushed his tongue into the other’s mouth almost aggressively, his hands getting eager as his fingers tangled to Kazuya's hair.

”Jin...” Kazuya gasped as he felt the first hints of arousal making their way to his body. Apparently the tales about getting easily aroused in the morning were true. Jin managed to plant a few burning hot kisses on the boy's throat before halting and looking up questioningly. Kazuya looked at his boyfriend for a few moments, panting from the passion he felt and feeling his skin burn wherever Jin had landed his lips on.

”...don't stop,” he finally finished and threw his head back, offering his delicate neck to Jin's hungry mouth. The other was all too happy to continue on his task. He nibbled and sucked on the skin in-between heated and open-mouthed kisses.

Kazuya was squirming from the pleasure under Jin, instinctively tossing his legs around Jin's hips to keep him in place, for his hands were occupied in sliding under Jin's shirt to feel the broad back and muscles.

Jin felt the faint hint of Kazuya's arousal pressing against his hips and roughly pressed against it with his own manhood which was slowly coming to life as well under the fabric of his sweatpants. He rolled his hips with Kazuya's with steady but powerful movements, panting in the boy's ear and feeling shivers of lust crawling up his spine when he heard the hot noises Kazuya was letting out.

With a groan Kazuya grabbed a hold of Jin's shirt to finally toss it off and place his lips on Jin's throat and shoulders. Jin was nibbling on Kazuya's earlobe and his hands retreated from the boy's hair to sneak under his shirt and find a nipple to play with.

Kazuya bit on Jin's shoulder, panting Jin's name against the boiling hot skin when he felt the weird but arousing sensation. Jin rolled his thumbs over the sensitive spots before teasingly pinching them, causing Kazuya to detach his mouth and almost cry out, throwing his head back.

Jin chuckled a little before drawing back and pulling the shirt over Kazuya's head, just to return to his previous task but this time with his tongue instead of his fingers.

Kazuya dove his hand to Jin's hair out of reflex, a faint blush of embarrassment on his face but too caught in the pleasure to actually feel ashamed. Jin raised his head to kiss Kazuya again, his lips being impatient and wet. Kazuya let go of the other's hair and traveled south with both of his hands, hooking his fingers in the rim of Jin's sweatpants.

”Off,” he muttered and yanked his hands down, revealing Jin's throbbing erection. The other hissed at the feeling of his manhood suddenly coming into touch with the cold air, but the sounds of uncomfort were soon replaced by the sounds of pure bliss as Kazuya circled his hand around the hard flesh much more confidently than last time and began moving up and down on his shaft.

”Kazuya,” Jin managed to voice out through whimpering pants as he rolled on his back and arched his spine. Kazuya had climbed half on top of him to kiss Jin's neck and ear, his eyes never leaving the intriguing sight of the other at the verge of ecstasy.

”You're beautiful like this Jin,” he whispered in Jin's ear, his embarrassment vanished long ago as he saw how much pleasure he was giving. Jin's hands that were having a tight grip on the sheets detached and searched Kazuya's face to caress it almost lovingly. Jin's eyes were closed as he drew in a shaky breath after another, his neck thrown back to give Kazuya as much skin to kiss as possible.

By the way Jin was starting to tremble Kazuya concluded the other was not far from coming, so he sped up his hand and added some pressure while his lips sought Jin's to kiss him heatedly. Jin's caressing hands grabbed Kazuya's shoulders and he yelled voicelessly into the kiss before cumming on his chest and Kazuya's hand.

Jin's shaky breaths died out to lazy panting as he little by little collected himself and came down from his high, Kazuya stroking his chest gently.

”Damn you,” Jin chuckled. ”When did you become so daring?”

”I catch up fast,” Kazuya announced and kissed Jin. The image of Jin being a panting and shivering mess in his hands had made him rock hard, and he wondered if he should just ignore it and enjoy the cuddling. Jin, however, did the thinking for him. He rolled on top of Kazuya and deepened the kiss, his hand going down to cup Kazuya's erection through his boxers before traveling up again to tease his nipples. Kazuya moaned needily and raised his chest to meet the touch, feeling like he would explode any minute.

Jin rolled his fingers on the nipples as his mouth set on Kazuya's neck, kissing it heatedly. Kazuya lifted his hips, begging for attention to his throbbing manhood, and blushed at his actions.

Jin chuckled and slid his palms until they reached the boxers.

”Can I take these off?” he asked a little teasingly.

”Yes, god yes,” Kazuya found himself panting. Jin pulled the boxers off agonizingly slow and got a dangerous idea. He lowered his head to Kazuya's chest, licking the tiny nipples on his way down, and enjoyed the whimpers leaving Kazuya's lips. When Jin's lips reached Kazuya's thighs, the boy finally got what Jin was about to do.

”Jin, you don't have to!” he said and raised his head, just to toss it back on the pillow as the other palmed his erection teasingly.

”But I want to,” Jin answered with a throaty voice and stroked Kazuya's manhood. After gathering enough courage he slowly placed his lips on it, his heart beating wildly in his chest. Needless to say, he had never done this before, but if it was for Kazuya, he wanted to.

Experimentally he set his lips on the tip and lapped his tongue over it once. Kazuya let out a hiss and closed his eyes, his limbs suddenly feeling like they weighed a ton. Jin chuckled a little at the reaction and licked the tip again before slowly lowering his head, taking in as much of the other as he could, careful not to scratch the hard flesh with his teeth.

After getting used to something poking at the back of his throat he started to move, slowly at first, but when hearing the encouraging moans from Kazuya, hastening the pace until he was bobbing his head up and down, occasionally adding his tongue to earn an extra pleasured moan from the boy. Jin settled his hand on the base of the other's cock, stroking the places his mouth couldn't reach.

Kazuya was now arching his back and moaning Jin's name along with some incoherent words that died on his throat as the pleasure got too intense. He unconsciously moved his hand to rest on the back of Jin's head, feeling a tingle in his lower stomach.

”Jin,” he whimpered as the other realized he was close and quickened the rhythm even more, his tongue now constantly working on his length. The waves of pleasure got more and more demanding until he finally voiced out a tiny ”Jin, I'm going to...”

Jin caught the hint and moved his head off, tugging the last few times with his hands until Kazuya came with a loud moan, his vision going black for a moment. He panted, unable to do anything besides feel good. He distantly felt Jin crawling up to cling to him affectionately but it took a few shaky breaths for him to break free from his paralysis and turn to face the other.

”You still didn't have to,” he silently said, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

”But I enjoyed it,” Jin hummed and kissed Kazuya's cheek. ”Let's take a shower. Can you stand or should I carry you?” he asked scoffingly.

”Don't underestimate me,” Kazuya said in feigned annoyance and gathered the remains of his strength to get up.

”It was amazing,” he confessed and smiled at Jin.

”It will get even better,” Jin promised before crawling onto his feet and pulling his boyfriend along for a long shower filled with loving kisses and gentle touches.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	12. The Beautiful Passion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/) (a.k.a. Rika). Sorry for taking so long to upload the next chapter, things have been quite busy so I just never got the time to sit down and edit 💜🙏 Here comes the twelfth chapter!
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _April 30th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 12 - The Beautiful Passion**

Kazuya shot Jin an irritated glance. They were walking down one of the hallways of the police station and the officer wasn’t even trying to hide the kiss marks that were now very prominent on his neck. Kazuya had in desperation dug out a big scarf from the bag with clothes he had been shuffling back and forth between Ueda’s and Jin’s place for weeks now, successfully managing to hide the marks Jin had left on him with some expensive cotton. Jin however seemed proud and therefore drew a lot of attention to the state of his neck. Kazuya decided that he hated Tuesday mornings. 

“This is awful,” the boy muttered and pulled the scarf over his chin, staring at the floor as they passed the cafeteria.

“What is?” Jin asked joyfully, feeling more than alright. Their days off had been filled with action, so to speak, and the officer actually enjoyed the way it showed. And unlike the other time, this morning he had actually managed to cook some decently edible breakfast and it lifted his mood even more.

“I feel like I’d rather have the murderer staring at me than the whole station...”

“If it bothers you that much, you should consider beforehand. I didn’t hear you complaining during our days off when I-” Jin leaned down teasingly to whisper the dirty details into Kazuya’s ear, smirking smugly.

“You’re just as awful,” Kazuya huffed and sped up. Of course he had enjoyed it and he knew he shouldn’t be embarrassed, but his cheeks turned red without him telling them to, that’s how it always was around Jin. He hurried to Jin’s office and took a deep breath as soon as he had thrown himself face first on the small couch, arms and legs sprawled out over the edges.

Jin chuckled at the adorable sight as he followed Kazuya to the office. He tiptoed to the couch and squatted to whisper to the other’s ear.

“Sleepy already? You just woke up.” Jin petted Kazuya’s hair and let his thin fingers travel lower to tickle Kazuya’s neck.

“Shut up, I’m grumpy and I might bite,” Kazuya muttered and wriggled away from Jin’s hand.

“Go ahead, I’m full of bite marks already,” Jin laughed and straightened up, leaving Kazuya be and going to sit at his desk instead. “Old man,” he said half-aloud, knowing how much it would irritate Kazuya and that made it twice as amusing.

“Ha ha ha, not funny...” Kazuya sat up and took his laptop out of his bag, deciding to look through the forensic report Nakamaru had sent him.

“I was wondering when it would come up,” Jin said to himself lightly, not bothered by Kazuya’s bad mood.

“When what would come up?” Kazuya asked while leaning back in the couch, watching the start up screen and rubbing his eyes.

“That bratty side of yours you usually keep up,” Jin answered absent-mindedly and browsed through the files he was holding in his hand. “Well, you’re still cute.”

“So I’m a grumpy old man, but still cute?” Kazuya wondered, not really managing to hold his mask. A tiny smile broke through.

“No, you’re a grumpy old man in a disguise of a hot young guy and you’re cute,” Jin corrected, smiling but not detaching his gaze from the papers.

“You know what? I’d like to involve Nakamaru more in this case, he’s pretty smart and his work on the computers are fascinating. I just realize now that the obstacles I met while I hacked this place were put up by him,” Kazuya stated, happily browsing through the material he had been sent.

“But anyway, I’m getting sidetracked, did you just call me ‘young man’? I thought I was the eternal kid around here,” Kazuya joked and put his laptop down, reaching out for a random book on crime investigation protocols lying on Jin’s cluttered desk.

“Well, you said yourself that if you’re a kid that makes me a pedophile,” Jin laughed and snatched Kazuya’s hand. “That’s not a really flattering title.” Jin played with Kazuya’s hand for a moment before releasing it and going back to his files.

“It sure isn’t,” Kazuya smiled, happy that at least someone had got the point. Now he just had to work on Yamashita, though he wasn’t very confident in managing to change Yamashita’s opinion of him. He was just about to open the book he had placed on his lap when there was a quick knock on the door before the head of the ever so glamorous police chief appeared from behind the door, soon followed but his suit clad body.

“Good morning” Matsumoto mused and closed the door behind himself, giving Jin’s neck a quick glance.

“It could’ve been,” Kazuya muttered silently, pulling his scarf higher once more. 

“What brings you here?” Jin had sprang up the moment Matsumoto had come in. He threw an amused glance at Kazuya after asking his question, finding Kazuya’s attempts of hiding the obvious entertaining.

“I’m actually here to talk with Kamenashi,” Matsumoto answered, pulling a chair to the desk and seated himself turned towards the boy.

“Oh? What about?” Kazuya asked curiously.

The police chief straightened his tie and crossed his legs, making himself comfortable before he spoke. “I’m attending a small dinner party tonight, it’s a very restricted invitation list and I was allowed to bring a guest of my own... so, as I am the bachelor I am, I thought of you. Because you do remember the deal we made?”

Kazuya shot Jin a glance, hoping he wouldn’t draw stupid conclusions.

“Sure, I guess I’d love to come, but... could you extend that invitation to one more person? I’m not completely comfortable leaving Akanishi to fend for himself after the events last Saturday,” Kazuya explained.

“No, it’s alright!” Jin hurried to say. He hated formal dinner parties and he had high suspicions Kazuya was invited to one. “I’ll go to the bar with Pi,” he added to Kazuya.

“You’re not going to the bar getting drunk while there’s a criminal mastermind out there that would just love to get his hands on you while you’re all plastered,” Kazuya scolded, not planning on giving in.

“It’ll be alright, Pi will be with me!” Jin objected stubbornly, not agreeing on losing this argument either. He had no intentions of spending his evening sitting at a dinner table, pretending to be sophisticated.

“You’re being silly. Why are you so dead set against coming with me?”

“I don’t enjoy dinner parties,” Jin muttered grumpily. “Fine, if you won’t let me out, I’ll stay home alone.”

Kazuya gave Matsumoto a quick apologizing look before he turned back to Jin, “That’s out of the question and you know it, can you please work with me on this? I promised Matsumoto I’d lend him a little of my name’s power to open doors in order to stay on this case, so will you please come with me?”

Jin suddenly became aware that Matsumoto was there, watching them with an amused look. He blushed and cleared his throat. “Okay, then,” he finally huffed.

“So then it’s settled, I’ll pick you both up myself at 7.30, I will be expecting suits and smiles,” Matsumoto said happily before he gracefully got off the chair and was out of the door before Jin could say something about the suit-part.

Jin sat back on his chair the moment Matsumoto left and turned his back to Kazuya grumpily.

“That means that we’ll have to stop by my dorm room on our way to your place, I think I’ve got my dark grey suit dry cleaned and steamed...” Kazuya mumbled to himself and got off the couch, “and to get my makeup because you’re not going there with those marks visible and neither am I,” he added while walking over to Jin.

Jin grunted at Kazuya’s rambles and leaned his chin on his hands in a sulking manner, ignoring the other’s presence right behind his back.

“Hey, what’s wrong? I just told you I own makeup and you completely let the chance of making fun of me for it go,” Kazuya asked while poking at Jin’s back with a finger.

“I HATE dinner parties,” Jin barket at Kazuya and rolled his chair away from the boy. “I could’ve just stayed home.”

“You were the one who was begging me not to leave you and what’s wrong with dinner parties? it’s just a flashy way of tying new contacts. It’ll just be a bunch of rich people chatting away nicely, nothing terrible,” Kazuya said and followed Jin, grabbing the back of the chair so he could turn it around, “And I’ll be there with Matsumoto.”

“High and mighty little men and women dressed in their bests to show off their money and influence, spending more money on the dress for that evening than a poor family would to live for a month,” Jin said, showing how much he despised people like that. “I hate things like that. I can’t stand snobs who celebrate their money they’ve earned by ripping off poor people.”

“Jin,” Kazuya started as he finally managed to look the other in his eyes, “you know I’m one of them, right? I’ve been to hundreds of these events, and you’ll survive one. It’s just for now, maybe the situation is different in a week and then I can be Matsumoto’s shiny trophy without having to worry about you.”

Jin didn’t answer and turned away, still sulking stubbornly. He knew Kazuya would be counted as the type of rich snob he strongly disliked but he had tried his best to ignore it. Well, at least Kazuya now knew the reason for his strong reaction when he had revealed his family achievements during their fight back then.

“Hey, is it that bad? You’re going to be like this just because I’m helping your boss to climb the ladder a few steps?” Kazuya pouted and sat down on Jin’s desk.

“I don’t want to be a part of your games,” Jin answered but stood up to trap Kazuya on the desk with his body, giving up a little. “You’ll do all the talking then, I’ll just sit quietly.”

“Sure, I’ll play the game without involving you,” Kazuya answered, letting his hands rest on Jin’s arms.

“Then I guess it’s alright,” Jin sighed before nuzzling Kazuya’s neck. “How hard will you punish me if I flee at some point when I’ve gotten enough?”

“I’ll call Ueda and then you’ll have to worry about a crazy killer AND a dangerous boxer,” the boy answered before letting out a long sigh, “how on earth will you react about my grandfather’s huge estate if you react like this about a small dinner party...” he pondered and leaned his head against Jin’s. He had thought that he’d probably have to crawl to the cross at some point and at least talk with his grandfather about Jin.

“I’ll survive, I guess,” Jin said and slid his hands to Kazuya’s waist. “But you’ll pay for this once we get home,” Jin leaned in to say with a raspy voice.

“I seem to be doing nothing but paying people these days,” Kazuya sighed jokingly.

“Well, as long as you don’t pay the others with methods that are solely my privileges,” Jin said and stuck out his tongue.

Kazuya glared at Jin for a few seconds before he slid off the desk, pushing Jin back in the process, “it’s about time we get back to work I think,” he lectured.

-

It was just as bad as Jin had predicted. He shifted uncomfortably in his suit he had delved from the back of his wardrobe and ironed haphazardly. He felt like his tie was strangling him and he actually felt very nervous facing all those influential people even though he hardly gave any credit to their money and power. He grabbed a glass of champagne from the waiter walking by just to down it in one go. When they had arrived to the party, he had quickly drawn the conclusion that he needed to be at least a little drunk to be standing around like this for the whole evening.

“Ah, there’s some interesting people here already,” Matsumoto stated as soon as he had taken a look around the room. They were in a rented restaurant, high up in one of Tokyo’s skyscrapers.

“Yeah, I think there’s a few from parliament and a bunch of some board members here,” Kazuya agreed and straightened his expensive suit, probably two times more expensive than the one Matsumoto was wearing himself.

“Right, then we’ll mingle,” Matsumoto stated happily and grabbed Kazuya by his elbow and pulled him along towards a group of men and women happily sipping their drinks while discussing something vividly. Matsumoto got right to introducing Kazuya to the group, earning surprised and intrigued glances as he did, but the one getting most of the attention was the boy himself.

“I’m just blowing off some excess steam while solving a few cases,” Kazuya answered when they asked how come he’d gotten to work for Matsumoto, “I’m still working on my university exam.”

“He’s been most helpful in our latest cases, he actually managed to locate a murder weapon in under five minutes, right Akanishi?” Matsumoto asked the sulking police officer.

“Yes, he’s been very helpful indeed. I have high hopes for him,” Jin answered with, to Kazuya’s astonishment, a pleasant and polite smile, successfully faking that he was pleased to have this conversation with a bunch of people he despised.

“Oh, you work under Matsumoto as well?” a woman asked. Kazuya had already noted how the women in the room had given Jin long appreciating glances as he walked in, disregarding the fact that he was in a plain suit - he was still the most handsome man in there.

“Yes, ma’am, I’m criminal detective Akanishi,” Jin answered politely and smiled. “I’m here today to assure Mr. Kamenashi’s safety. But of course I can expand my protection to other people as well if I see a damsel in distress,” he said with a flirty smile, deciding it was for the best if he looked interested in the women around in order to make sure his connection to Kazuya wasn’t questioned.

“That’s our Akanishi, always ready to serve,” Matsumoto joked and earned amused laughs from the small group of people that steadily grew bigger as the guests got curious about the two men he had brought.

“Kamenashi here is actually a bit of a code-breaker, I can’t tell you the details but I assure you, he’s doing a better and quicker job than all of our computers can,” Matsumoto bragged while sporting his best smile.

“That’s what I’ve always said, good police work is done by honest men using their heads, not by computers and machines,” an old and short man said, Kazuya thought that he might be a member of the ministry of justice, or maybe a former member.

“But computers can be of good help sir, if you know how to use them in the right way,” Kazuya added and used the smile he always used on occasions like this.

Jin clenched his jaw at Kazuya’s last words, trying to hide the wave of grumpiness that hit him the moment he remembered the way Kazuya had used his computers, the very illegal way.

“Oh? Well yes, I guess you would know better,” the man answered with a smile, ”between you and me, these modernities never agreed with me very well. But never forget how to use that brain of yours son.”

“I think we’ve all had the problem of computers not agreeing with us,” Matsumoto concluded, earning another laugh from the crowd. It was no surprise that he had managed to climb as far as he had despite his young years when you got the chance to study how he worked a crowd, Kazuya thought. They didn’t get much more time to mingle though because dinner was announced and Kazuya had to tip a waiter to make sure that Jin was seated next to him as Matsumoto took his place beside the party’s hostess, the wife of a rich merchant.

“See, it’s going very well,” Kazuya whispered to Jin as people were busy with talking and laughing while sampling the starter.

“I still hate this,” Jin muttered under his breath and straightened his posture to answer a flirting smile some woman was giving him.

“We’ll only stay for a drink after the dinner is done, then we can leave,” Kazuya declared, not giving the woman across the table any attention, instead he delved straight into a conversation about taxing and its effects on commerce with the corporate director next to him.

-

The moment they arrived home, slightly tipsy from the champagne and the wine from dinner, Jin dashed to the bedroom to almost rip his suit off and switch to sweatpants and a T-shirt. He was done in record time and wasted no time in crashing on the bed in a sulking manner.

“You’re fast,” Kazuya chuckled and put his blazer over the back of a chair before he joined Jin on the bed.

“Yeah, and it’s time for you to pay for all the small-talk and flirting I was forced to do,” Jin announced before attacking Kazuya and kissing him fiercely.

“Let me just get out of these trousers first,” Kazuya mumbled against Jin’s lips and tried to wriggle out of his grip, “I don’t want them all wrinkly.”

“Snob,” Jin teased but let go and allowed Kazuya to take his pants off. “Next time I will seriously stay home, even if I’ll have to lock myself in the bathroom.”

Kazuya just laughed a little, successfully removing his trousers and sneaked off the bed to place them on the chair with the blazer, “I’m borrowing one of your T-shirts he announced and started to untie his tie so he could get out of his crisp white shirt as well.

“Go ahead, I’m not used to seeing you in a suit,” Jin said and rolled on his back, waiting for Kazuya to be ready so he could kiss and hug the living hell out of him.

“You looked really good in yours though,” Kazuya said with a smile as he took his shirt off and let it join the other clothes on the chair, “and I wasn’t the only one with that opinion. You nearly managed to steal the spotlight away from Matsumoto there for a while,” he added while pulling a T-shirt with a washed out print down over his head before putting on a pair of worn out sweatpants.

“I’ll have to disappoint you, I won’t wear it again in near future. And it’s not like I wanted any attention. I know women like that and what they want,” Jin snorted in response.

“But I liked you in a suit,” Kazuya joked and crawled back on the bed, “I think I prefer your hair like this actually, a bit wild and without mysterious hair ties,” he added.

“It gets in the way untied,” Jin defended himself and pouted. “You owe me kisses, mister,” he added in reminder and gave Kazuya his best puppy-eye look.

“Right, kisses, gotcha,” Kazuya answered and settled above Jin, kissing him teasingly on his nose before he kissed him on his lips, softly and slowly. It tingled all over his body and he didn’t know if it was the champagne, the wine or just Jin’s presence speaking.

Jin answered the kiss in content and angled his head slightly, chuckling when Kazuya swayed a little. “Is my lovely boyfriend drunk?” he teased with a smirk.

“No, your lovely boyfriend is just a tiny bit drunk,” Kazuya answered, “and very much in love,” he added before he kissed Jin again, trying to get Jin to think of something else than his tipsy body. His limbs might not be doing completely what he told them, but his brain was not so easily compromised. Just as he was about to deepen the kiss even further, climbing further on top of Jin, his phone chimed somewhere in the room. As manic curiosity had always been his worst bad habit, Kazuya shambled off the bed and got it out the pocket of his blazer.

“Sorry, but it might be Ueda,” Kazuya apologized and opened his inbox.

_By the way, I forgot to tell you last time, but I’ve decided what to do with that sweet officer of yours._

_He’ll draw his last breath regretting that he ever laid a hand on you._

Kazuya drew in a sharp breath before he could stop himself. Not wanting to worry the other he silently shut his inbox and slipped the phone into his pocket, hoping Jin wouldn’t suspect anything. Something like this might make Jin crack.

“Who was it?” Jin asked with a frown, suspecting the worst by Kazuya’s puzzling reaction.

“Just Nakamaru, he sent me a few really interesting figures I’ll have to go over with him tomorrow. It’s a bit complicated to explain...” Kazuya answered quickly while he got back to the bed.

“Hmm, is that so...” Jin answered and seductively put his hands on Kazuya’s waist just to slide down to his hips and lower until reaching his pockets. Before the boy could protest, Jin had snatched the cellphone from him. “Then you don’t have any objections if I read it?”

“It’s not there, I transferred it to my other mail account,” Kazuya answered hurriedly, trying to keep calm and assertive.

“Oh, okay, I’ll just check your inbox in any case, I’m getting a little suspicious here,” Jin said lightly.

“Please don’t Jin,” Kazuya pleaded, feeling terribly anxious. He didn’t want Jin to worry like he had done that night, it had been heartbreaking seeing him so utterly sad and frightened.

“Why not? Is your cellphone full of love letters from your secret lover or something?” Jin asked, still keeping up the act. However much he wanted to just go ahead and read the mail, his morals denied him from doing it without permission.

“Don’t be silly, when would I have time to meet someone else? It’s nothing, you’ll find nothing. If you don’t trust me then go ahead and look,” Kazuya scoffed, hoping that it might be a good tactic to get the idea out of Jins’ head.

“Kazuya.” Jin dropped the act. “I’m not stupid, your reaction speaks more than a thousand words. It’s from him, isn’t it?”

Defeatedly, Kazuya hung his head and nodded, not bothering with the lies anymore since Jin already suspected how bad it was, “yeah, but I’d prefer that you didn’t read it.”

“I already know he’s going to kill me, I doubt he has come up with anything more permanently damaging,” Jin said. “Kazuya, I won’t read this mail until I have your permission. Can I?” Jin cupped Kazuya’s chin and gently raised it up to see his face from under his bangs.

“If you must, then yes... read it,” Kazuya whispered back.

Jin nodded and opened the inbox and read the mail, his face getting darker by the second. When he was done, he handed the phone to Kazuya and rolled on his back without a word, closing his eyes.

“Jin?” Kazuya asked, quickly putting the phone on the bedside table, and sat down next to the other, “Jin talk to me, you’re doing exactly what I was afraid you’d do.”

“He’s wrong,” Jin voiced softly and opened his eyes to look at Kazuya sorrowfully. “He can make me go through unbearable pain and rip me apart piece by piece and I still wouldn’t regret the day I fell for you.”

“Oh Jin, that’s what you got caught on in that e-mail?” Kazuya whispered, relieved that it wasn’t an even worse reaction. “I’m... really happy that you feel that way, but I’d rather have that he didn’t get his hands on you.”

“Yeah,” Jin said. “But if I die by his hands, you must trust me when I say that I didn’t pass away regretting you. Okay?”

Kazuya felt his heart clench and tried to answer but his throat felt thick and his eyes were close to being filled with tears. The fact that Jin didn’t regret it wouldn’t take away the fact that without Kazuya in the picture he would never have gotten involved in such a dangerous game. It would be Kazuya’s fault.

“Okay,” Kazuya finally managed to say, hiding his face against Jin’s chest.

“Kazuya, look at me,” Jin pleaded gently and stroked his hair.

Hesitantly, Kazuya raised his head, very aware that Jin would be able to spot the tears forming in his eyes as soon as he did.

“I love you. I love you so much I can’t put it in words,” Jin said sorrowfully. “I would rather die now on the spot with this little time we had together than grow old without ever getting to know you.”

“Don’t say that Jin, don’t talk about death anymore, I can’t take it,” Kazuya sobbed and kissed Jin’s face fervently, desperately grabbing a hold of the other’s shirt, “I love you too.”

Jin cupped Kazuya’s face just to crash their lips together. He pulled the boy close desperately and kissed him with so much passion he almost felt like his feelings would boil over.

“Promise not to go willingly if he finds you, promise to at least try to flee instead of trying to catch him,” Kazuya said out of breath between kisses.

“I promise. If I die, I want you to promise you’ll keep solving the case and catch him without me.” Jin kissed Kazuya with all his might, feeling like he would lose his mind if he let go of the boy even for a second.

“He’d draw his last breath regretting ever laying a hand on you,” Kazuya stated, staring deeply into Jin’s eyes before he crawled fully on top of the other, one slightly shaking hand on the soft skin of Jin’s throat and the other fiercely gripping Jin’s arm.

Jin pulled Kazuya impossibly close and panted in a distressed manner. “I want to feel you closer,” he said desperately and kissed him, feeling like he was little by little being caught up by some unknown force.

“You only need to tell me how,” Kazuya whispered back.

Jin didn’t answer. He slid his hands under Kazuya’s shirt, feeling a little more content when feeling his hot skin against his palms. “Don’t abandon me, I’ll go insane without you,” he begged, feeling like the hopeless situation had only now dawned upon him. He needed Kazuya so much that the mere thought of living without him seemed enough to stop the world around him.

“I won’t, I’m insane without you” Kazuya answered, moaning as Jin’s hands moved over all those sensitive places they had already mapped out. “It’s a game and we’re playing it with him, don’t let it get to you.”

“Too late...” Jin said and grabbed Kazuya’s shirt by the hem, pulling it over his head and threw it off the edge of the bed, not caring where it landed. He quickly turned them both around and pressed Kazuya so far into the mattress that for a moment, before the surge in his stomach took over, he feared that Kazuya might not even be able to breathe. Kazuya’s skin looked almost white in the dimly lit room and it contrasted against his tanned hands, touching every inch of it before he let his lips journey the same path. It felt so different this time, the way Kazuya was already shivering in anticipation, the way they were both clinging desperately to the other. Because they both knew that they were in too deep, but the thrill of the chase would draw them even deeper.

Completely caught up in the surge of his feelings, Jin didn’t even think twice before he stripped Kazuya completely naked, letting his own shirt join the garments scattered over the floor. Kazuya was moaning underneath him, every time Jin kissed him he answered back with the same force, his hands roaming across Jin’s back.

Jin couldn’t even tell where Kazuya ended and he began anymore, because he had rolled them over again, letting the naked young man on top him do what he wanted with him. Kazuya was fascinated by Jin’s strong body, the way he could see every muscle move underneath the skin when Kazuya kissed it. He loved Jin’s ears because they were so sensitive that Jin would instantly draw in a sharp breath whenever he wandered there, letting out unbelievable sounds if Kazuya moaned in one of them.

Kazuya touched every last bit of Jin, until he reached the hem of his sweatpants. Pulling at the hem, he got the message across and Jin lifted his hips, letting Kazuya pull them completely off.

They were both hard, pressing against each other and rocking their hips ever so slightly. Kazuya moaned as Jin let his hands wander off his back, down towards his hips and his thighs, back up over his buttcheeks, a place Jin hadn’t touched before.

“Jin...,” Kazuya groaned and curled his body towards the other, enjoying how Jin’s hands knew no shame and no limits anymore. Both too lost to even care. Jin’s hard erection was pressed against his hip and Kazuya eased off the other so he could reach for it, lazily stroking as Jin’s hands got even braver. Fingers daring to caress the sensitive skin between the cheeks, momentarily grazing over Kazuya’s opening.

“Don’t stop,” Kazuya whispered as Jin had realized what he was doing and drawn his hands back.

“But...” Jin tried and got silenced by Kazuya’s hungry tongue.

“You only need to tell me how,” Kazuya repeated after he was sure Jin was moaning into the kiss.

“It’s not-I mean you don’t have to, I really want to but...” Jin got lost in his own pleasure as Kazuya added just a little bit more pressure to his strokes on Jin, pressing his own erection against Jin.Their kisses turned sloppy and their bodies were covered in a thin layer of sweat, the ends of Kazuya’s hair sticking to his neck. Soon enough, one of Jin’s hands wandered downwards again, once more caressing that last untouched part of Kazuya’s body.

“You’ll have to tell me if it hurts too much,” Jin panted as Kazuya nibbled on his ear and kept his hand moving on him.

Overtaken by passion, or that unknown force from before, Jin turned them around once more so he could look down in Kazuya’s eyes. Satisfied with the look of bliss he saw when he started moving his hand up and down over Kazuya’s erection as well, he reached over to his bedside table and opened the drawer, taking out a small bottle of lube and a condom. Waiting hesitantly for a sign of regret in Kazuya’s eyes, but found none. The boy was just looking at him through lidded eyes as if he was the only man in the world, breathing with short breaths out of a slightly open mouth. Jin leaned down to ravish those plump lips, their shape making it look as if they were always half pouting.

“I want you so much I can hardly breathe,” Jin whispered into his ear as he released Kazuya’s eager lips from the kiss.

Kazuya groaned as Jin increased the speed of his strokes but could soon breathe out as Jin’s hand left his erection. Jin sat up coating a few fingers with the liquid from the bottle and eased back down as he was done. His hand once more went to the space between Kazuya’s cheeks, this time eagerly met as Kazuya opened his legs wider and, as a reflex, bent his knees to give Jin’s hand space to move.

It was a weird feeling, Kazuya concluded, as the first finger slowly moved further inside him. Not painful yet, just out of place. Jin’s slick finger moved until it was fully inside, their eyes constantly connected as it did. Jin could hardly keep from moaning at how Kazuya felt around his finger, eager to feel more of him he started to wriggle it a bit slowly preparing the tense walls for more.

When he moved it out and in a bit too hastily, Kazuya momentarily froze underneath him, but as soon as he opened his eyes again there was nothing but trust in them. Afraid that he might hurt the boy, Jin decided to take it a bit slower, spending extra time on making sure that Kazuya was ready for another finger.

“Touch me,” Kazuya panted as Jin finally added the second finger. Doing as he was told, Jin started stroking Kazuya’s erection once more and added scissoring movements inside Kazuya, spending so much time on it that Kazuya was almost about to move his hips at his own when Jin added the third finger. This though, had Kazuya hissing for a second before he forcefully made his body relax again. The buzz of the alcohol was long lost and Kazuya wished that it was still there, at the same time he didn’t because he wanted to feel Jin without forgetting even a second of it. How Jin was so carefully preparing him, how his hand moved on him at the same pace as the fingers inside him. When Jin momentarily removed the third finger and reached as far as he could Kazuya had to bite his lip in order not to groan loudly, arching his back and unconsciously bucking his hips.

“Jin..” Kazuya pleaded and threw his head back as Jin kept grazing that very spot as he tried to spread Kazuya just a bit further.

“I’m here,” Jin said softly and left Kazuya’s erection in order to be able to reach and caress the bangs out of Kazuya’s eyes, “just a bit more,” he added and added that third finger again. The boy was now shuddering underneath him and properly prepared, at least to the extent Jin could manage at this moment.

Jin pulled his fingers out and reached over to get the small package from the bedside table handing it to Kazuya with a small smirk

“You’ll have to open that for me,” he said and leaned down to play with Kazuya’s nipples, completely neglected and hard even in the warm room.

“Uhuh,” Kazuya answered, slightly out of breath, and soon handed Jin the opened package, “here,” he then said and waited in anticipation as Jin rolled the condom on himself, moaning slightly as he did.

Jin crawled back on top of Kazuya and reached for a pillow to place at the small of Kazuya’s back, making it easier for both of them.

“We will take it really slowly, okay? Not letting it get out of our hands,” Jin told Kazuya as he positioned himself at his entrance, getting an agreeing nod as an answer, the best Kazuya could manage as Jin had almost absentmindedly given him a few strokes over the sensitive tip of his erection.

They both made sounds when Jin slowly pushed in his lubricated erection passt the opening, but out of different reasons. Kazuya reached out for Jin’s hand and sighed in relief as he found it. The intrusion of a bigger object than Jin’s fingers made his whole body tense up in the sudden pain he felt before he managed to relax again.

“It’s okay, just keep moving,” Kazuya huffed and gave Jin an encouraging smile. It took a while before Jin dared to move again, but when he did he did it very slowly as he didn’t want Kazuya to get hurt. It was hard though, to not just ravish the beautiful young man, because he felt so incredibly good around him.

“Kazuya... oh god...” Jin moaned as he had sunk in as far as he dared, slowly rocking back and forth on the place for a while before he slowly pulled out again. He blindly reached for Kazuya’s erection that had deflated a little, but soon it was just as hard as before as Kazuya once more moaned and started to move in time with Jin, searching for that blinding pleasure Jin had shown him before. A few thrusts later and Jin had almost sunk in to the hilt and shivered all over his body as he was overtaken by the intensity of the moment, staring into Kazuya’s lidded eyes as he threw his head back and fisted the sheets as Jin graced over that spot again.

“More, I want... move more,” Kazuya panted out and bucked his hips against Jin, arching as Jin made sure to thrust in at the same angle every time.

“You feel so good...” Jin answered before groaning, his lips danced over Kazuya’s skin and his erection moved in and out of Kazuya’s body, all of it almost making him lose his mind. They both moaned uncontrollably as he increased the pace, not keeping it up on Kazuya’s member, but by now it hardly mattered as they were both lingering dangerously close to the edge. The two bodies moved in time with each other, sounds of shallow breaths and flesh against flesh echoing through the room.

Kazuya was the first one to fall as he mumbled something too jumbled up for Jin to be able to understand and bucked against Jin, chasing for release. He felt that overwhelming pleasure getting closer with Jin’s every thrust and when it hit him it was more powerful than any of the times before. He arched and jerked his hips as he came hard on Jin’s hand and himself, not able to control his body as Jin graced that sensitive spot inside him over and over again.

Seeing Kazuya lose himself so completely to the pleasure, Jin increased the speed of his movements and had to clench his jaws shut not to growl as Kazuya tightened around him in his orgasm. He managed to move into Kazuya one more time before it became too much for him and he came as well, buried inside the panting man. His body turned limp as the last powerful waves of his orgasm rolled over him, making him move in and out of Kazuya a few times more as the feeling passed.

“I don’t even know how to tell you how incredible this was, love,” Jin managed to say as his breath calmed down a little, kissing Kazuya’s face as he did.

The boy smiled groggily at him, squeezing his hand gently before closing his eyes again.

“Mmm, yes... I’m so sleepy,” Kazuya whispered and Jin chuckled as he dozed off, still with Jin inside him, with a look of utter happiness on his face.

Thinking that Kazuya probably was pretty much out of it, Jin pulled out of the boy and sauntered out to the bathroom with the used condom, throwing it in the trash can before he wet a cloth and went back to wash his sleeping boyfriend’s body clean before he quickly showered.

When he joined Kazuya on the bed again, pulling the blanket over them as he pulled the sleeping body into an embrace, he knew he had been right before. He’d go insane without him.

-

When Jin woke up the next morning with no clothes and messy hair, it took a minute for the memories from last night to come rushing back. And when they did, Jin wasn’t sure whether he should purr in satisfaction or hit himself with something hard. Kazuya was still deep asleep, the night had apparently worn him out big time. Hit by a surge of guilt Jin sprang out of the bed and glanced at the clock. It was ten past six, he had enough time to make the boy some breakfast.

When he appeared back at the bed with a tray filled with toast and fruits accompanied by a pair of painkillers, Kazuya still hadn’t moved from the spot. Feeling too insecure to wake him up, Jin placed the food and medicine on his bedside table and knelt down on the floor beside the bed, placing his chin on the edge. What would Kazuya do when he woke up? Would he regret and be mad at Jin for doing that?

A few moments later, Kazuya stirred in his sleep and flopped his arm down on the spot Jin had slept through the night, murmuring something inaudible. The boy then cracked an eye open, blinking a few times at the strong morning light and then focused his eyes on Jin’s worried look.

“Good morning,” he murmured with a raspy voice and started stretching his limbs in the way he always did when he woke up, hissing a bit as he reached his back.

“Does it hurt? I’m so sorry!” Jin exclaimed and hastily took the painkillers to give them to the boy. “I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have done... that,” he murmured.

“I don’t take pills,” Kazuya announced and slowly eased himself up to sit against the headboard of the bed, “it’s not that bad anyway.”

“But... Are you sure? I’m such an idiot, getting carried away like that,” Jin mumbled and buried his head to the sheets. “I’m sorry,” he said again, his voice muffled against the fabric.

“Jin, do you hear me complaining? Stop being such a worrywart,” Kazuya told the other and patted his head a bit, making his already messy hair even messier, “anyway, you can make it up to me by coming up here giving me a morning kiss or something. Otherwise I might regret it.”

Jin rushed to crawl on the bed and kiss Kazuya. “We won’t do that again, I promise,” Jin said, feeling so sure that he had made a mistake by having sex with Kazuya.

“Oh, I get it,” Kazuya announced with a hurt voice, “it was that bad? I must’ve been more drunk than I remember...” He figured that Jin must just be trying to make him feel better because he hadn’t liked it at all. It was a big step and maybe a bit too big even for Jin.

“It wasn’t bad for me at all, I enjoyed it more than my morals can stand now that I see you’re hurt,” Jin confessed silently. “I don’t want to rush you into going too fast.”

Kazuya gave him a puzzled look and held his arms out, signalling for Jin to hug him, “I don’t get your logic at all, I was... a moaning mess,” he admitted and blushed deeply, “last night, but now you’re somehow trying to talk me out of ever doing it again. Jin I do love you but sometimes you’re just a bit too silly for your own good.”

“You don’t regret it?” Jin asked in astonishment as he hugged Kazuya carefully. “I just assumed that you’re mad at me for hurting you.”

“Stupid,” Kazuya chuckled and tightened his grip around Jin, “now give me that food.”

“Oh, right!” Jin exclaimed and reached out to get the tray. He placed it on Kazuya’s lap and took out a bunch of grapes, detaching one and handing it to Kazuya. “Say ah!” he said sweetly, testing if Kazuya would let Jin feed him this time.

“I can’t even be angry at you anymore,” Kazuya laughed and obediently opened his mouth, his blush spreading a bit further than it had before. If Jin needed completely silly games then Kazuya didn’t have the heart to deny it to him this morning. He hated it when Jin looked so sad.

Jin’s eyes lit up to a whole new enthusiasm as Kazuya took the grape, so he put the next one between his lips. “Here,” he said happily and offered his mouth to Kazuya.

“What is this, a game of dare?” Kazuya asked before he leaned in and kissed Jin, stealing the grape before embarrassment managed to catch up with him.

“No,” Jin simply said before attacking Kazuya’s mouth, trying to sneak the grape back with his tongue.

“Hey, get your own food,” Kazuya grumbled and pulled away from Jin’s hungry kiss.

Jin yelped sadly, mimicking a dog, and laid down to cuddle Condoriano. “He’s mean, right, Condoriano?” he asked and pouted.

“I’m not mean,” Kazuya shot back and hit Jin over his arm with another pillow, giving Jin a quick glare before he let out a deep breath and leaned back towards the headboard again, “I’m just a grumpy old man,” he admitted.

Jin turned around to place his head on Kazuya’s lap. “Wan wan,” he said and licked Kazuya’s hand.

“No, I’m not dealing with that act of yours again, not even while you’re drunk,” Kazuya scolded, “and if you do it again I’ll have the taxi driver stop and throw you out.”

“It wasn’t that bad back then,” Jin said and giggled. “I had just kissed you before that, was the taxi drive seriously the most scarring event of that night?”

“The most scarring event that night was being pushed into the taxi by Yamashita, I don’t know how he managed to convince Ueda he’d take care of me, but he sure didn’t,” Kazuya answered, remembering how evilly happy Yamashita had been. “The kiss was just... unexpected.”

“Why was it so horrible to go home with me?” Jin asked innocently and licked Kazuya’s hand again.

“First of all, I didn’t go home with you, I just dragged your drunk ass back to your apartment, and secondly, your friend just threw me in a taxi with a drunk and dare I say, horny man saying I should be grateful he gave me a chance for a continuation... of course it was awful,” Kazuya answered and ignored Jin’s antics, “were you... I mean, did you start to have feelings for me then already? Because now that I look back at it you were actually not just clingy in general, more like really clingy about me.”

“I think there was something there since day one, I felt intrigued by you. I can’t really tell when I truly fell for you, it happened little by little until I had to admit it to myself after that night when I held you. And being the typical me, I then decided to never tell you and stay away from you for good,” Jin said and chuckled at the memories.

“Typical you,” Kazuya agreed and tried to find a comfortable position to sit in. Failing miserably, he just gave up and rolled over to his stomach and sighed. “I might as well skip breakfast and take a shower.”

“Okay,” Jin said and stretched his muscles before getting up, ready to give Kazuya a piggyback ride. “Hop on.”

“Jin that’s not a good idea, I’ll rather walk,” Kazuya said, shuddering at the thought of having to be carried by his legs like that. Tentatively, he got out of bed and stood up, relaxing as he didn’t feel any major pain. “See, as good as new,” he smiled and set off towards the bathroom, making sure Jin wouldn’t notice the soreness he felt.

Jin followed Kazuya worriedly, looking like a lost puppy. “Are you sure you can handle it yourself?” he asked insecurely.

“Sure, do I look like I can't handle a simple shower?” Kazuya scoffed.

“Just let me know if you need help,” Jin said and caught Kazuya for a kiss.

“I will,” Kazuya answered and smiled as he drew back, closing the door behind him.

-

The grey weather outside somehow matched the atmosphere that had settled over the station as the code-case moved no further and Ando had started taking out his frustration on unsuspecting junior officers by rearranging their schedules so that most of them worked weekends and nights. They had to do something about it soon, he had to do something. If he couldn’t solve the case soon then he would have to start solving other cases because the way things were right now were terribly bad for morale.

In order to get his thoughts about the killer sorted out, he had asked Jin to take him to his university so he could talk to Ooshima about it, she was, after all, the go-to person when it came to the studies of the human mind in Japan.

Kazuya leaned his head against the window of the passenger seat and smiled a little as he thought about how Jin had fussed about him all day yesterday and now today as well. He wasn’t even feeling anything anymore but Jin was constantly sending him quick glances as if he was afraid that he’d break down and cry accusingly any second. Kazuya derived that it seemed everybody but him was thinking that he was quite fickle and frail. Why they had gotten that idea into their heads he had no idea about.

It was a calm and quiet drive there. The moment they got out of the car, the rain that had been threatening to fall for days now came crashing down and they had to rush to the entrance in order not to get soaking wet.

“You look like a drenched puppy,” Kazuya joked as they breathed out inside the big entrance doors, Jin’s ponytail sagged a little from the sudden shower of rain.

Jin snorted and opened his ponytail to shake the water out of his hair, a great deal landing on Kazuya. “Go see that Ooshima, I’ll be in the cafeteria.”

“Just don’t follow anyone,” Kazuya warned before he waved and set off in the direction of the big staircases and hurried to reach Ooshima’s office in the back of the building. Not bothering to knock, because Ooshima never did either, he opened the door and peeked in, only to be met by a completely surprising sight.

“Yamashita?” Kazuya asked and pushed the door fully open. The officer and Jin’s best friend was lying on Ooshima’s couch seemingly in the middle of some rant while the professor was busy reading a book at her desk, not paying the other any attention at all, “what’s going on here?”

“Don’t ask me, he just came in and started to speak about some secretary chick,” Ooshima said, not lifting her gaze from the book.

“You’re a psychologist, your job is to listen!” Pi stubbornly said. “I have no idea what to do, Koyuki doesn’t seem to warm up no matter what,” he added to Kazuya.

“How about moving on and leaving her alone?” Kazuya suggested, crossing his arms over his chest.

“That’s what I said,” Ooshima commented absent-mindedly.

“Why? Does she have someone else? Is she already dating someone?” Pi asked with wide eyes and sprang up, implying that Kazuya knew something he didn’t.

“Seriously Yamashita, a woman is not a simple equation, they don’t give you a relationship or a date just because you’re nice to them. If she’s not interested then she’s not interested, end of story,” Kazuya answered irritatedly.

“But at least Jin always manages to hit on the person he wants even if she, or he,” Pi winked, “isn’t interested. Why can’t I? Am I not attractive, Kamenashi? You’re gay, you can tell!”

“Are all criminal detectives this stupid?” Kazuya sighed and leaned against the door frame, “never mind, yes Yamashita, you’re attractive, but you’ve been pining for Kato far too long now. It’s getting awkward, and now you’re even pestering Ooshima about it.”

“Okay, I got the hint,” Pi muttered and paced towards the door. “Is Jin here with you? He told me you’ve been watching over him like a hawk ever since that killer threatened to kill him.”

“Yeah, he’s in the cafeteria, if you go there now you might prevent him from eating all the food,” Kazuya joked and tried giving Yamashita a smile for once.

“Nonsense, I’ll go there to help him eat all the food,” Pi announced and grinned before leaving with a wave.

“Was he here for long?” Kazuya asked and sat down on a chair across the desk from Ooshima.

“Long enough for me to feel ready to kick his ass,” she answered. “Why are you here, then?” Ooshima said with a sigh and put her book down.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about the killer lately, mostly because of these e-mails,” Kazuya explained and handed Ooshima a printed version of the latest threats, “luckily Horikita, the stations’ pathologist, had taken Jin to a museum that day so the killer didn’t find Jin, but the following threats are... disturbing to say the least.”

“Hm...” Ooshima read the e-mails, suddenly looking very serious. “What is your worst fear right now?” she finally asked and handed the prints back.

“Oh, my fears?” Kazuya asked, a bit puzzled by her interest. His main interest was figuring out how the killer worked but he guessed that she was interested, ”It’s pretty obvious don’t you think? Having to watch a man get killed over a video call wasn’t exactly fun and... no, I just don’t want to go there. I’m just going to make sure that he doesn’t get to Jin.”

“How did Akanishi react when he saw these e-mails?” Ooshima had taken out her notebook and started to write in it.

“He was very sad and keeps telling me I shouldn’t think that he’s regretting getting involved with me, and he’s really... how do I say this, seeking physical contact. Like he can’t get enough. I think it got a bit more to him than to me,” Kazuya explained and leaned further back in the chair.

“How do you feel about his behaviour? And are you alright with the physical closeness?”

“I am, surprisingly enough,” Kazuya answered and shrugged his shoulders, “It’s nice, as long as he keeps it toned down at the police station.”

“So all in all you’re happy with him and the only problem is the killer?” Ooshima concluded.

“Yes exactly,” he agreed, “ I can see why the killer might get jealous about him taking a bit of the attention away from the case, but that’s not really a motivation now is it? There must be some other reason, like he’s just trying to mess with me,” Kazuya hurriedly explained.

“I can’t tell since I don’t know the details on the case. But I would imagine that he feels you’re special. Maybe he even feels some kind of emotional connection to you and when he got to know about Akanishi, he didn’t take it too well since he feels like he’s the only person in the world who can understand you. Or the opposite, he hates you and wants to destroy everything important to you in order to come out on top in your game.”

Kazuya grumbled and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, “this is just getting more complicated by each day, I’m going to get grey hair before I’m thirty,” he joked and straightened his glasses. “I don’t know what alternative I would prefer, they’re both kind of horrendous.”

“Well, the only way out seems to be to catch the killer. He has implied he won’t back down until he has killed Akanishi. If you could decide now, would you rather be in this situation or choose again to never get involved with this case and Akanishi?” Ooshima finally asked the most important question, waiting for the answer with sharp eyes.

“I’d do it all over again, just like now,” Kazuya answered, trying to hide the small smile that was making his cheeks pull, but gave in and laughed a little, “If I weigh the pros and cons against each other, Jin has got to weigh more than a measly serial killer out to get me.”

“Then isn’t it all good. Protect him until you catch the killer and after that you can move in together and adopt a dozen kids,” Ooshima said lightly and closed her notebook.

“As if,” Kazuya snorted and grabbed a book from her desk, “I’ll take that one thank you,” he stated and got up from the chair. He wondered if she had relocated his whole book case to her office by now.

“Akanishi is the type who needs to have kids,” Ooshima announced. “Haven’t you noticed? And make sure to return that book.” She nodded towards Kazuya’s book she had apparently decided to claim as her own.

“I’m 22 Ooki-shima, he’ll have to wait a few years for that, and gay couples aren’t allowed to adopt in Japan as far as I know,” Kazuya shot back.

“Well, I’m sure you two would make fine political activists fighting for gay rights,” Ooshima mused. “Speaking of which, I hope you’ve used protection, I don’t know if you’re aware that some STDs are more likely to get transmitted through unprotected anal sex,” she continued, sounding much like she usually did in the class when talking about mental diseases.

“What’s with everybody? Do you think I’ve been living under a rock?” he asked before he realized what she was talking about and gulped, was he really that obvious?

“Well, you’re not really the type who is interested in sex. I doubt you have more information than what you learned back in high school and there they don’t really advise people on gay sex. Or am I wrong?”

“No, but I know stuff anyway, the internet can be quite educating.”

“Oh, I see. Well, as long as you know what you’re doing it’s alright. Don’t overdo it though, let your body rest for some time before doing it again,” Ooshima said, a little sadistic tingle in her eyes signaling that he enjoyed seeing Kazuya so awkward.

“Yeah, yeah, and I’ll brush my teeth before I go to bed,” he answered grumpily and headed towards the door.

“I’ll see you next week,” he said and gave her a wave.

“Good luck with keeping yourself and that idiot out of trouble,” Ooshima exclaimed after him and went back to her book.

Kazuya left her office, heading towards the cafeteria where he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what would meet him. Nothing good could come out of Jin and Yamashita being left in a room with loads of food.

Kazuya reached the cafeteria just in time to witness the two men sitting with enormous sandwiches, looking at each other challengilly. They had hired one of Kazuya’s schoolmates to start the competition and when she had said the “ready, go” the two officer started to wolf down the sandwiches with unbelievable speed, taking so large bites it almost scared Kazuya.

“Now that’s just great,” Kazuya muttered and once more crossed his arms over his chest.

“Do you know them?” a curious girl to his left asked, apparently picking up on his vibes.

“Yes, actually that’s my boyfriend and his best friend, they’re police officers working on high profile cases,” he told her with a contrived smile.

“You’re weird Kamenashi,” she snorted and turned back to her girlfriends, happily cheering away when Yamashita almost choked on a piece of tomato.

“You have no idea,” he muttered to himself and returned his attention to the two officers.

“You actually imply one of those is going out with you?” one of the girls asked disbelievingly, a hint of mockery in her voice. “Which one?”

Kazuya, who had only tried to scare the girls away, realized that this had been a really bad idea and cleared his throat to make some smart excuse, but her question somehow irritated him. Instead of wriggling out of the situation he turned to face her and spoke.

“Yes, him,” he stated and pointed at Jin.

“No way, he flirted with Minami before the competition started,” the girl announced and crossed her arms arrogantly.

“He’s like a puppy, if you’re nice to him he’s nice back,” Kazuya retorted and rolled his eyes, “why am I having this conversation with you again?”

“If you’re going out with him, prove it.” The girl pointed at Jin, who had finished eating the sandwich and was now mocking Pi who had lost and was glaring at him, unaware that Kazuya had arrived.

“Why would I? I don’t care what you think.”

“See, he lied!” The girl turned to her friends in victory, earling approving nods and poisonous glares for Kazuya.

“Oh for the love of... alright, but I won’t ever be doing this again,” Kazuya stated and started making his way through the crowd towards Jin and Yamashita.

“Oh, Kazuya!” Jin waved at the boy happily when noting his presence. “Did you see my victory? I totally kicked this idiot’s ass!”

“You sure did,” Kazuya answered happily and leaned down to peck Jin quickly on his lips, just enough to make sure the girls couldn’t interpret in any other way than what he in his foolishness had told them.

Jin was dumbfounded by the act of affection before smiling in content and getting up. “The loser pays,” he announced to Pi and took Kazuya’s hand to lead him out. “See you, girls,” he said on a sidenote to the bunch Kazuya had talked to earlier when they passed them.

While they passed, Kazuya raised one of his perfectly arched eyebrows at them and silently hoped that this rumour wouldn’t spread very far.

“You have to remind me to never use the blunt truth as a deterrent again,” Kazuya told Jin as they left the cafeteria.

“What did you do?” Jin asked and laughed, not minding the gazes they got as they made their way out of the university hand in hand.

“I just tried to scare those girls away from me but it somehow ended up in an argument about if you could possibly be dating me or not. I think I’m even worse at understanding girls,” Kazuya explained.

“You kissed me because you got jealous of teenage girls and had to publicly claim me?” Jin asked and burst out in laughter.

“I wasn’t jealous, I just really hate being told I’m wrong.”

“Oh, my mistake. I guess I was wrong as well when I thought that you were jealous of Koyuki,” he said innocently, obviously not believing Kazuya.

“Hmph,” Kazuya muttered and pushed Jin a little, “maybe a tiny bit jealous, but not very much at all. I’m not really worried about you in that way.”

“I wouldn’t mind you being all possessive over me though,” Jin mused and smiled at the thought.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” Kazuya answered with a smile.

“I mean, then I wouldn’t feel so stupid being possessive myself. Because I am,” Jin said amusedly and circled his arm around Kazuya’s waist to prove his point.

“Wait a few years and I might get tired of having all the women around you drool over you,” Kazuya answered and leaned into Jin.

“I can’t help being this handsome,” Jin teased. “And I consider flirting back solely as good manners.” Jin buried his face in Kazuya's hair. “But you know that I’m all yours.”

“But now that you’re all mine what?”

“Well, you could always say that you’re all mine as well and I’ll happily take you home and cuddle you,” Jin answered against Kazuya’s hair.

“Ah, I thought that was obvious,” Kazuya teased and hugged Jin as they got to the car, “let’s go home,” he whispered.

“Mmh,” Jin answered and caught Kazuya’s lips.

-

The target was just thirty or so feet away, looking big enough to hit with ease, Kazuya thought. Jin had prompted him to wear ear plugs so he couldn’t really tell if Jin was giving him any further instructions than what he had already been given. He breathed in slowly and then breathed out before he gently squeezed the trigger and felt the gun go off.

Kazuya had closed his eyes when it did, but quickly opened them, peering at the target ahead. Embarrassment hit as he realized he hadn’t been anywhere near hitting it.

“There’s something wrong with either the gun or your instructions,” Kazuya informed Jin as he turned towards the other.

“Rubbish, you didn’t follow my instructions at all,” Jin answered. “First of all, keep both of your eyes open when you aim and don’t close them when shooting. And secondly, keep the gun steady, right now you’re shooting like a western movie star, you lift the barrel when firing so that it’s nearly impossible to hit.”

Kazuya raised an eyebrow at Jin for daring to correct him like that before he turned back towards the target and tried again. He found himself wishing that he hadn’t gotten talked into following Jin to the shooting range this morning. This fiasko plus the drama in the university cafeteria the day before were giving him a terrible headache. Taking a deep breath once more, he corrected his stance according to Jin’s demonstrations and kept both eyes focused on the target as he pulled the trigger once more. This time he at least managed to hit the edge of the target.

“Better,” Jin said approvingly and stepped closer. “But you still let the gun twitch when you shoot. Let me show.” Jin took the gun and slowly showed Kazuya what he did when shooting, just to eventually empty the case in the blink of an eye, hitting the middle of the target each time.

“Well, I’m not used to these sort of things,” Kazuya sulked as Jin had stopped shooting, “dad used to pester us every summer with clay pigeon shooting but it wasn’t really my style.”

“Yeah, but I think you should still learn the basics. You’re in touch with a serial killer after all,” Jin lectured and loaded the gun to give it back to Kazuya. “Again,” he commanded.

“Alright, again,” Kazuya sighed and steadied his stance, taking aim and fired at the target, trying to mimic Jin’s posture as much as possible. This time he got very near the center of the target.

“Better?” he asked, not waiting for a reply as he took sight once more and hit bulls eye.

“Very good,” Jin said with a smile and ruffled Kazuya’s hair approvingly. “Let’s move the target back by ten feet.”

Kazuya gave him a nod and readied himself once the target sheet had shifted further back. He had a harder time hitting this time, but he eventually got it, repeating it a few times just to make sure he had gotten the hang of it.

“Okay, so now we’ve settled that I’m not a completely lost case,” Kazuya said and took his protective glasses off.

“Yeah, I think you’ll become rather alright if you keep training,” Jin said warmly.

Kazuya handed the gun back to Jin and took out his ear plugs as well. He didn’t particularly enjoy the ambiance in the shooting range and not even Jin could make firing a gun look impressive in his eyes. They were just noisy and a nuisance. “Well, I don’t get the fuss about guns, but yeah, I’ll keep training.”

-

“I can’t wait to get to taste the dinner you’ll make,” Jin bounced on the driver’s seat happily, pumped up by the fact that Kazuya had promised to make them dinner that night. They were on their way home after the shift and the clock had just turned 6 p.m.

“Why are you so enthusiastic about that?” Kazuya asked and smiled at the way Jin always looked overwhelmingly happy about food, “I might be terrible at cooking food.”

“The breakfast you made back then was good,” Jin said. “And a dinner filled with your love... Perfect!” His eyes sparkled at the romantic mental images of Kazuya wearing a cute apron and bringing him food with an adorable blush.

“You’re a pervert,” Kazuya scoffed, pretty much imagining what Jin was thinking about, “but yeah, I’m pretty good at food.”

“Housewife,” Jin teased and laughed.

“Am not,” Kazuya retorted and sulked.

“Well, you’d make a good housewife,” Jin said before the walkie-talkie he had attached to his jacket started to make noise. “What on Earth, my shift already ended...” he muttered in annoyance and delved the walkie-talkie out.

“Yees?” he asked in boredom just to freeze on the spot when hearing the static-filled voice of the caller. It was something big, Kazuya could tell, but the officer changed information with the caller so quickly using weird terms so he couldn’t completely catch up with the situation.

“I’m on my way,” Jin said and cut the line before stopping the car abruptly. “Kazuya, get out and go home before me,” he commanded hastily.

“What? No, I’m not letting you run off on some call and get tricked into god knows what,” the boy answered challengingly and made no sign of either taking his seat belt off or getting out of the car.

“This isn’t a time to be stubborn, out!” Jin barked and cursed to himself.

“No.”

“To hell with you,” Jin said and made a u-turn. “You’ll duck down on the seat if I tell you to, clear?” he asked before turning on the sirens and increasing the speed, zigzagging with dangerous speed through the cars that did their best to get out of the way.

Kazuya almost immediately regretted not getting out because Jin looked like a possessed man as he handled the car. This was evidently another one of his not so bright ideas.

“Red Toyota Avensis without a license plate, tell me if you see it,” Jin said as he took out his gun to load it, not hitting the break even once though they made a couple of really risky turns.

“O-okay,” Kazuya said shakily as the car didn’t keep in one lane for very long at all. He peered outside the car and scanned the traffic for a car fitting Jin’s description, “It might be over there, on the other side of the gas station, going in the direction of the highway.”

Jin turned to the gas station abruptly just to press the brake with intense force, putting on the hand brake at the same time, turning 180 degrees just to continue after the car towards the highway, tossing his cellphone to Kazuya.

“Call Pi and tell him our location. We need to stop them before they can reach the highway, I can’t shoot properly if they get there because of the speed and the drag,” he said and sped up, passing all the cars between his and the one he was chasing in a heartbeat.

“Right,” Kazuya muttered and dialed Yamashita’s number, quickly informing the other of what Jin had said and their position as Yamashita had picked up. “He says he’s on it,” Kazuya repeated for Jin.

Jin grunted in understanding and opened the window, firing a well-aimed warning shot to the car’s back while holding the wheel with his other hand. “Get down!” Jin yelled after a second and barely dodged the bullet the men sent in reply.

A bit taken aback by the sudden turn of events, Kazuya stared at Jin as he leaned as far down he could in his seat. This was a bit more excitement than he would ever guess police officers like Jin ever got.

“Oh, a challenge,” Jin muttered to himself when noting the car wouldn’t give up without a fight, and smiled, showing his canine teeth as he sped up after the Toyota and fired again. “Stay down,” he said to Kazuya on a sidenote.

“I’m down, and I’m not planning on coming up from here,” Kazuya bit back, more angry at himself than anyone else for getting himself involved.

“Don’t make me aim at your tires and make you crash,” Jin muttered as the car sped up and successfully broke the side mirrors of the escapers with his bullets, ignoring Kazuya completely after hearing that the boy would voluntarily stay safe and down.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea shooting out in the open like this?” Kazuya asked worriedly, “I mean we’re not the only ones on the road.”

“Do you think I would shoot if I wasn’t one hundred percent confident I would hit the target?” Jin answered and sped up from before, successfully staying behind the car.

“How would I know, this seems pretty dangerous to me,” Kazuya muttered and braced himself against the side of the car as it shook again.

Jin didn’t answer but concentrated on tailing the red car, trying to corner it so that it couldn’t turn on the highway.

Kazuya couldn’t help but to peek up at Jin now and then, he always got fascinated by the changes in his personality. One moment he could be sugary sweet and the next ready to bash someone’s head in. Now he was mostly looking really determined and Kazuya got impressed by the fact that he seemed to know exactly what he was doing, just like in that interrogation they had had with Sugimoto, the man the third victim had fired and accused of embezzlement.

“Come on Pi, where are you,” Jin muttered and fired another shot, knowing that they would run out of time and he wouldn’t be able to keep the car out of the highway for much longer. After about a hundred yards he finally saw the barricades ahead. “Finally,” he said to himself, firing the final shot at one of the back tires, forcing the car to slow down and eventually stop.

Jin hit the brake and stopped right behind the car, getting out without saying a word to Kazuya and running to the car with his gun steadily pointed forward.

“Come out with your hands behind your head,” he shouted and didn’t put his gun down until the officers waiting at the barricades had run to them and surrounded the car. Two men stepped out with balaclavas, their hands up to signal they would give up. An officer hurried to cuff them and remove the pieces of clothing covering their faces, starting to walk them towards one of the police cars.

“Finally we got some action,” Pi said with a grin after he had walked to Jin.

“Okay, Kazuya, you can come out now if you want to,” Jin yelled towards his car, the adrenaline still freshly pumping in his veins.

“You took the runt with you?” Pi asked in astonishment.

“He refused to get out of the car and I had no time,” Jin grunted in response.

“I refused to get out of the car because I didn’t know what you’d get yourself into with a killer running loose,” Kazuya scolded as he reached them, proud of his particularly good hearing.

“You act like his mother,” Pi remarked and laughed. “Well, did you enjoy the show?”

“What on earth was that?!” Kazuya exclaimed and flailed with his arms, “that was like serious movie material,” he continued while not being sure if he was really impressed or really horrified.

“You know, the only reason people rob banks in this area anymore is that they want to challenge Jin. He’s well known among the underworld here, or so Tanaka has said,” Pi said and winked.

“Oh stop it you airhead,” Jin huffed and sighed.

“Why am I getting the feeling that you’re not the useless officer I thought you were for all those weeks?” Kazuya asked and felt quite proud of Jin.

“Useless?” Pi said and burst out in laughter. “He has chased down some really big names. Remember the bank robbery a little over a year ago where the robbers held children as hostages and then escaped with over two million yen?” Pi asked and continued as Kazuya nodded. “Well, guess who was the person who first negotiated the hostages out and then chased the robbers down on his own?”

“On his own?!” Kazuya asked and looked like someone had told him that Jin had won a Nobel prize.

“Pi, shut up,” Jin said. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Yeah, the other officers couldn’t keep up with the robbers,” Pi answered Kazuya, ignoring Jin’s comment.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” Kazuya announced, “I didn’t think you guys did things like that, but apparently I was wrong. Why haven’t you told me about all these things Jin? I’m sure there’s loads more, right Yamashita?”

“There sure is, like the time Jin tracked this one car for more than three hours. He was unable to shoot since the driver had a hostage but eventually he managed to corner hi-”

“And that is enough,” Jin announced in irritation and took a hold of Kazuya’s arm. “Home,” he said to the boy.

“I’ll talk to you more tomorrow,” Kazuya said to Yamashita over his shoulder before Jin dragged him away.

“Jin what’s wrong?” he asked, trying to keep up with Jin’s long strides.

“I want to get home already,” Jin huffed and as soon as they were both in the car, he grabbed Kazuya’s chin and kissed him heatedly, not minding that the officers were still there mere yards away.

A bit surprised at first, Kazuya hesitated, but Jin’s eagerness was very infectious. He could tell that Jin’s pulse was racing and he himself felt the heat spread.

“Let’s save the rest for home,” Jin muttered as they parted and he started the car’s engine.

“Right,” Kazuya answered and cleared his throat, straightening his shirt before he put his seatbelt on.

-

The drive home had felt like it lasted for an eternity and after they arrived on his doorstep Jin hardly had the patience to wait until they were inside and they had taken off their shoes before he shoved Kazuya against the hallway wall and trapped him with his body and mouth that had invaded Kazuya’s with its tongue the moment their lips met.

Caught up in Jin’s sudden outburst of need, Kazuya leaned back against the wall and hummed delightedly as the other pressed against him. He would be lying if he said that this afternoon’s events didn’t impress him, he was more or less awestruck at how Jin seemed to be even more competent than he had come to think lately.

“Were you embarrassed when Yamashita talked about your accomplishments?” Kazuya wondered as they both parted for air.

“Not really,” Jin mumbled back and lifted one of Kazuya’s thighs to settle around his waist while his lips moved on the boy’s neck.

“Good, because I’m intrigued by this new side of you I’m discovering,” Kazuya answered, “I want to know more.”

“Later,” Jin stated and pressed harshly against Kazuya, his teeth nibbling their way up to Kazuya’s ear.

“Uhuh, later it is,” Kazuya mumbled back as he moved his head to the side and panted slightly at the way Jin was handling him.

Jin took a hold of Kazuya’s other thigh, guiding it around his waist as well as he lifted the boy off the ground just to grind against him, pressing him firmly against the wall. Kazuya moaned in response, grabbing Jin’s arms so he could lean in to kiss Jin.

Jin answered the kiss, the adrenaline and the excitement of the chase making him more eager than usually. He bucked his hips against Kazuya’s groin and moaned.

“To the bed?” he asked into the kiss, biting on Kazuya’s lower lip.

“Yes,” Kazuya answered softly, smiling at the other.

Jin backed away from the wall, carrying Kazuya while his lips were now kissing the spot just below the boy’s ear, making Kazuya shiver and moan. When they fell to the bed, Jin was already hard and by the way Kazuya bucked his hips for more friction he concluded the boy was as well.

Jin rubbed their groins together, Kazuya moving his hips eagerly and pressing Jin’s head against his neck, craving to feel those lips on his sensitive skin. Jin took the invitation and kissed his way all across Kazuya’s neck and throat, stopping every once in a while to suck on the skin, making bright kiss marks as if to mark his territory.

Kazuya let his hands wander to grab the hem of Jin’s shirt and tug it upwards, the other drawing back just enough to take it off and then return to pressing against the boy, his hips now bucking against Kazuya’s in circling motions. Kazuya tensed the muscles in his thighs to bring Jin even closer, shivering at the way Jin’s hungry hands settled on his chest to caress his nipples through the fabric of his T-shirt.

Jin retreated again to take Kazuya's shirt off, watching the already hard nippled with lascivious eyes before leaning down to circle his tongue over one of them. Kazuya arched his back and whimpered, his hands grabbing Jin's hair almost painfully to pull him closer. He was far too lost in his own want to even feel embarrassed by his actions, he only wanted more. So much more.

Jin locked the nipple between his teeth and flicked it with his tongue, enjoying the noises his actions drew out of the boy. It was hard to think through his lust, the only thing guiding him was the blind craving to have Kazuya, to claim every bit of him. His hand was fondling the neglected other nipple, caressing and pinching it while his hips continued to press against Kazuya's erection with eager movements.

Jin's other hand traveled down to grab Kazuya's butt almost roughly, groaning at the way the boy's jeans prevented him from feeling the bare skin. So he quickly detached from Kazuya to open his belt and slide the pants off as Kazuya willingly raised his hips. Jin kissed his way up again, kissing both of Kazuya's nipples before ravishing his mouth, pushing his tongue incredibly deep to taste every bit of Kazuya.

The boy was getting more turned on by Jin's way of touching him, it was so rough and so eager but he still felt the undying love through every touch. Jin's both hands snuck up from the legs of his boxers to massage his buttcheeks, enjoying the way they curved even more under his touch as Kazuya tossed his thighs around Jin's hips once more. The boy kissed Jin desperately, battling for dominance with his tongue. He arched his back and moaned as he felt Jin's fingers slide down the crack of his butt, past his opening.

”Kazuya,” Jin panted into the kiss, asking for the other's attention.

”Yeah?”

”Do you want to do it again?” Jin asked, ready to draw his fingers back in case Kazuya didn't want him inside again.

”Take me,” was Kazuya's panting response as he restored the heat into the kiss by biting Jin's lip. The other groaned and pressed his fingers against Kazuya's entrance, dipping the tip of one of them in before retreating to hastily take off his jeans that were trapping his erection painfully. He hungrily yanked Kazuya's boxers off as well before climbing on top of the other once again, his hands sliding up and down the boy's side. He felt like he could never get enough of the milky skin under his roughened palms.

Kazuya closed his eyes and moaned as one of Jin's hands finally touched his aching erection. Jin palmed the tip lightly before tugging on the shaft. Kazuya reached blindly for Jin's boxers to caress Jin's manhood, earning a groan.

”Jin, take them off,” Kazuya said quietly. Jin followed his orders and slid the boxers off himself and settled between Kazuya's legs to push their bare erections together, his hands pinching both of Kazuya's nipples at the same time and his tongue once again sneaking between the boy's lips. Kazuya welcomed the friction and threw his arms around Jin's neck.

”Kazuya,” Jin moaned into the kiss as the boy slid his hands up and down his back.

”Jin, I want you.” Kazuya broke the kiss and locked his eyes with Jin's, filled with passion and love.

Jin reached out for his bedside drawer and took out the bottle of lube and a condom. He stood up on his knees and gently spread Kazuya's legs, revealing the boy's entrance. Kazuya circled his hands around his legs and kept them up as Jin squished some lubricant on his hand and coated his fingers, pushing one into the panting boy.

Kazuya wasn't used to the feeling yet but it didn't stop him from letting out a moan of pleasure as Jin stroked his erection with his other hand. The finger started to slowly move and Kazuya closed his eyes, desperately waiting for Jin to find that one spot inside him. His muscles relaxed as he got used to the invasion and as Jin kissed him, his whole body was already aching for more.

Jin added another finger and drove them deeper and deeper until he lightly brushed over Kazuya's prostate, making the boy arch his back and neck so sexily Jin had hard time not ravishing the boy that instant. Instead he pressed against that spot again and again, scissoring his fingers in between in order to stretch Kazuya's tight walls.

Jin carefully added the third finger and halted, waiting until the boy relaxed once again before slowly moving them, aiming for that spot once again and finding it soon enough.

”Feels good,” Kazuya moaned and watched Jin through lidded eyes, spreading his legs wider. Jin's actions were forming goosebumps on his skin and he bucked back a little, forcing the fingers deeper inside. But it wasn't enough. He wanted Jin to have him, now.

”Jin,” Kazuya said and moaned as the other's fingers pushed against his prostate once again. Jin got what Kazuya was implying and gently removed his fingers and reached for the condom, somehow managing to open it despite his slippery fingers. He rolled it on his cock and added some lube before settling on Kazuya's opening, slowly pushing the tip in and instantly hissing at the warm tightness that welcomed him.

Kazuya took deep breaths, forcing his muscles to relax. It didn't hurt as much as last time, partially because he knew what to expect, but the sensation was still somehow uncomfortable. Jin pushed another inch in and leaned down to kiss Kazuya in order to distract him a little.

Little by little Jin pushed fully into the blinding heat and stilled, panting against Kazuya's shoulder and with grinding teeth fighting back the urge to start moving. Kazuya bit his lower lip and breathed shakily, waiting for his body to adjust. When the uncomfort lessened, he kissed Jin's cheek.

”You can start moving,” he mumbled. Jin caressed Kazuya's erection for some time before he slowly pushed out and back in again, his hands still on the younger's length to make sure he wasn't the only one enjoying.

The intimate touch and feeling of Jin rubbing against his walls made Kazuya moan, and he found himself bucking back to Jin's slow thrusts. He arched his back as Jin angled the thrusts so that it reached Kazuya's prostate and as the pace got a little faster, he hardly felt the distant pain anymore through the building pleasure.

Jin licked on Kazuya's ear and grabbed the flesh on the boy's hips, adding more power to their love-making. Kazuya panted and raised his knees to his chest, signaling he wanted more.

Jin finally let his restraint vanish as he pushed harder into the boy, his lips hungrily exploring Kazuya's neck before finding his lips and kissing him. He moaned Kazuya's name and sped up, making sure to hit the boy's prostate with each thrust.

Kazuya was now wailing and desperately bucking back, not bothering to keep his voice down anymore but feeling the urge to show Jin just how good he felt inside him.

”Fuck, I feel like I'm going crazy,” Jin growled and drove deeper. Kazuya moaned sexily at the words and wrapped his legs around Jin.

”Go crazy but don't stop,” he whispered and cried out as Jin slammed against his prostate with strong continuous movements. ”Oh god, Jin,” Kazuya wailed and tossed his head. ”Touch me,” he pleaded as he felt the clouds of ecstasy blurring his mind completely.

Jin drew back and took a hold of Kazuya's erection to tug it, slowly at first but when noticing how desperate Kazuya was for release he was soon stroking the throbbing cock in rhythm with his quick and powerful thrusts. Kazuya's hands grabbed the sheets, his knuckles turning white as he felt the release crawling closer and closer. He arched his back and neck beautifully and panted Jin's name over and over until he finally came all over Jin's hand and his own chest, a loud cry dying on his throat as the orgasm sent shivers up and down his spine.

Jin groaned and sped up, feeling his own climax near as he felt Kazuya's muscles clench uncontrollably around his manhood, and with a few heavy thrusts he was gone, moaning Kazuya's name as he came, lazily thrusting into Kazuya's hole until he had ridden the last waves of his orgasm.

Jin pulled out with the remains of his strength before collapsing on top of Kazuya, who was still panting but circled his arms around Jin the moment he felt the weight on top of him.

They lay in silence for a moment, both trying to catch their breath as they slowly came down from their high.

”Are you okay? Was I too rough?” Jin finally asked timidly.

”I'm not made of glass, Jin, I can handle it,” Kazuya chuckled and stroked Jin's hair. He had always thought that sex was something dirty and unnecessary, but the sex they had always was beautiful and filled with love.

”I love you,” Kazuya murmured and kissed Jin.

”I love you more,” Jin answered with a smile. ”Are you still going to cook for me?” he added hopefully.

”There you go with food again,” Kazuya said and sighed, but couldn't help smiling at the cuteness of his boyfriend. ”I will, but first I want to shower.”

”Let's go then,” Jin said happily and pulled Kazuya up before kissing him sweetly.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	13. Faltering Façades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/) (a.k.a. Rika).
> 
> I'm (Emi) attempting to re-upload this story as rapidly as possible, but since it is quite long and I'm going to have to format a lot of text it's going to take a while. This chapter was 20k words long (wow!) so please be patient with me 💜🙏 Here comes the thirteenth chapter!
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _May 8th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 13 - Faltering Façades**

The constant rain was getting on Kazuya’s nerves. It would’ve been okay if it was winter, but with the warm weather and all the humidity he felt like he was caught in a pressure cooker. Furthermore, he was starting to feel the effects of a cold, something he would be able to handle perfectly well in normal cases, but the weather wasn’t helping.

Rubbing his face with the palms of his hands for the hundredth time, Kazuya groaned and reached for the tissue box conveniently placed on the edge of Jin’s coffee table. They had been going through all the collected testimonies from people living and moving around the crime scenes of the code-killings today and the day before had not been more eventful than that either. The only bright side of the last week had been Jin’s successful hunt and subsequent catch of the bank robbers, but the positive effect it had had on morale was wearing thin by now. Kazuya found himself wishing that he was back at the university instead, where he didn’t have to handle more people than himself and Ooshima (and Jin of course). Instead he was out in the spotlight, with a whole departments’ expectations on his shoulders. Not that the expectation-part was what made him feel uneasy, it was the fact that his actions somehow had an effect on everyone else, something he was highly unused to.

A sneeze cut him off in the middle of his brooding and Kazuya whimpered as the force of it made him move his head too quickly. He hated this weather, and this cold.

Jin appeared in the doorway with a plate of something that smelled and looked suspicious beyond imagination, his other hand occupied with holding a blanket and a thermometer between his teeth. After settling the plate and thermometer on the table he turned to Kazuya with the blanket, ignoring the glare he got from the boy. He wrapped it around the boy’s torso tightly, on top of the three other blankets he had brought one by one throughout the day and forced the boy to keep on.

“I made you some chicken soup,” he said, looking terribly satisfied with his accomplishment. He actually liked being the mother hen, despite Kazuya’s protests to the extra care he received.

“Jin I’m sweating, I don’t need warm soup,” Kazuya retorted, blowing his nose in a tissue before letting out another sound of displeasure, “and that looks... a bit too experimental for my taste.” Apart from a runny nose, a headache and a cough, Kazuya was fine, so he wondered why Jin was treating him like he had a high fever.

“When you have a cold, you need to stay warm,” Jin insisted stubbornly and poked the thermometer into Kazuya’s mouth. “Now keep your mouth shut,” he said and circled his arms around Kazuya, rubbing his arms to make him even warmer.

Kazuya started to squirm out of Jin’s grip, but gave up and decided that the sooner he could prove that he didn’t have a fever the better. So he leaned his head back against the backrest of the couch and tried to think of cool places, preferably places with permafrost and mountains of ice.

“Eh? 36,9 degrees? You’re not sick then?” Jin asked when the thermometer beeped, looking almost disappointed. He had had some cute fantasies from him feeding Kazuya some soup to Kazuya snuggling him non-stop because he was cold. Jin looked at the boy with big eyes, like a child who had just been denied from eating his favourite candy.

“I told you I wasn’t feeling cold and that I don’t have a fever. This is just some coughing and sneezing,” Kazuya explained slowly.

Jin drew his mouth to a thin line and began to sulk. “It’s not fair. I can’t kiss you because you’re full of mucus and now I can’t even treat you,” he complained and crossed his arms.

Jin’s sulking made Kazuya laugh a little, not too loud because he feared it might make his head crack open, and shrugged the blankets off his body. “I can get out of these now right? I feel like I’m in a sauna,” he said and reached out to give Jin a pat on his shoulder.

“Should I try your soup? Maybe it’s a culinary masterpiece,” Kazuya said to Jin, hoping the other would get into a better mood then.

“Okay,” Jin answered a little more cheerfully. “Hopefully it tastes good, I kind of mistook cinnamon for curry,” he confessed with a grin.

Kazuya sipped the soup cautiously, feeling glad that his sense of smell wasn’t working properly, but that didn’t change the fact that the soup was a hopeless mishmash of flavors covered in huge amounts of salt. Forcing himself not to cough at the taste was a terribly bad idea and he nearly choked on the hot liquid as he swallowed it.

“Didn’t you taste it before you gave it to me?” he managed to say between raspy breaths.

“No, should I have?” Jin asked, looking insecure. “It’s awful isn’t it?” He hung his head sadly. “It’s alright, I’ll go throw it away and order something.”

“How else do you think food will turn out edible if you don’t taste it? But don’t worry about it, I’m happy that you tried making me soup” Kazuya said with a softer voice, patting Jin’s head compassionately.

Jin took the plate and went back to the kitchen to throw it out, hoping Kazuya wouldn’t notice he had made the whole potful of it. He delved out his cellphone to call a Thai restaurant nearby when he noticed he had received a mail from Pi.

_You wanker, you have totally neglected me lately. How about you have a break from playing house and come to the bar with me? I’m buying._

Jin pondered for a minute, feeling a little guilty. He had spent all his time with Kazuya lately and neglected his best friend. But then again, would Kazuya let him out alone? He was sick and would probably go to sleep early anyway, it wouldn’t hurt him if Jin went out? And Pi would be with him, he wouldn’t be in any danger. Jin bit his lower lip and decided to try. He snuck back to the living room and settled beside Kazuya, circling his arms around his boyfriend’s waist and nuzzling his shoulder affectionately.

“Honey?” he tried, making his voice soft and meek. Mentally he was wincing at how badly such cute nicknames fit into his mouth.

“What? Is there a fire in the kitchen?” Kazuya asked, wondering what Jin was up to now.

“No,” Jin answered and tried to smile cutely after kissing Kazuya’s cheek.

“Have I ever told you how beautiful eyes you have?” he asked, hoping that his hidden intentions or mental yucking at his mushy words wouldn’t show.

Kazuya felt a bit confused by this sudden outburst of affectionate words, trying not to get embarrassed. “Jin, seriously, there’s nothing special with my eyes. They’re brown like everybody else's.”

“Still they’re more beautiful than anyone else’s,” Jin said and moved his mouth to Kazuya’s ear. “You’re gorgeous,” he murmured.

The embarrassment Kazuya had tried to put off bloomed out in full effect and he felt his cheeks burn as Jin’s words registered. An unexpected sneeze, however, made him throw his head forward and broke the awkward silence.

“Sorry, I can’t control them,” Kazuya said with a miserable voice and reached for a tissue.

“It’s alright,” Jin said and patiently waited until Kazuya had blown his nose before picking up on his previous task and leaning his mouth inches away from Kazuya’s.

“Honey...” he started, swearing to himself it would be the last time he used nicknames like that. “I’llgooutwithPitonightisitokay?” he continued as fast as he could, hoping the boy would promise he could go before realizing what he had asked for.

“Out with Yamashita?” Kazuya asked, leaning back on the couch with a growl as the sudden movement made his head pulsate with pain.

Jin started to plant kisses on Kazuya’s neck and ear, hoping it would distract the boy from his words. “He asked me out to drink,” he murmured against Kazuya’s skin.

“Yeah but... drinking... and the killer... I don’t know,” Kazuya answered hesitantly.

“Pleease,” Jin now whined. “We haven’t been wasted together for ages!” he blurt out without thinking. “I mean... Baby,” he tried to plead and nuzzled Kazuya’s cheek.

“You were planning on getting drunk?” Kazuya asked with a suddenly very serious voice, “sure, go somewhere you usually go with Yamashita, somewhere the killer easily could’ve tracked down before by following you, and make yourself and Yamashita completely hammered and easy targets. It’s the best idea you’ve ever had, after adding cinnamon to chicken soup.”

Jin retreated to watch Kazuya in the eyes with pouting lips and his best puppy-eye look. “Pumpkin...” Jin tried pleading one more time with his cute soapy voice, his hands caressing Kazuya’s.

“It’s up to you in the end I guess, but Jin, this is not child's play. There’s no second chances and you won’t be able to think ‘hey, maybe I shouldn’t do that next time’ when you’re bound up in some cellar somewhere.” Even though Kazuya might’ve wanted to forbid Jin from going anywhere, he realized that he would never get through to the other that way. He needed Jin to understand the seriousness in this situation.

“Sure sure,” Jin snorted and got up. “Go to bed early so you’ll get better and don’t expect me back before the morning,” he said happily and jumped to the kitchen, taking out a bottle of tequila. “This for the starters on the way there,” he mumbled to himself with a grin, taking out his phone when passing through the living room to the bedroom in order to change his clothes.

Kazuya gaped at Jin’s way of being so relentlessly thick-headed. Had he not been out crying on that balcony, wishing he wouldn’t have to leave Kazuya behind? It puzzled Kazuya how Jin could be over it so soon, just at the beckoning of some booze.

“Are you mad?!” Kazuya finally hissed, feeling how anger replaced the initial daze. He got up from the couch and grabbed Jin by his arm as he was going through the bedroom doorway. Even though Kazuya wasn’t stronger than Jin he managed to pull him back so hard that they both almost toppled over.

“Huh? Something wrong?” Jin asked in confusion, quickly hugging Kazuya with the arm he was holding the bottle with.

“Why don’t you ever listen to what I tell you?!” Kazuya growled and shook Jin’s arm off himself, “what? You’re too good to take advice from the kid, is that it? Well, fine, don’t give a damn if that’s what's important to you.”

“I took your advice, considered it and decided to go. You obviously don’t think I’m capable of looking after myself even though I’m 28 and fucking _trained_ to handle dangerous people,” Jin shot back, starting to feel angry by the way Kazuya shrugged him off and how he had freaked out at Jin’s choice even though Kazuya had been the one saying Jin could decide for himself.

“You wanna know how I’d do it?” Kazuya shot back, his eyes turning wide and crazy in a way Jin had never seen before, “how easy it is eliminating the factor of your strength and training? How I’d slip a pill into your drink or catch you as you’re on your way into a cab? A syringe can hold so many wonderful drugs Jin. An unconscious person is easier to carry if you tape all the limbs together, so I’d do that, and then I’d drag you to my car or my van. Oh, by the way, Yamashita is dead by now, so don’t worry, he won’t be suffering from regrets. I’ve gotten the taste for showing my work to the world as well, especially to that intriguing turtle, so maybe I’ll hack a few more computers this time, live-feeding it to the whole police station. Should I start with your feet or your arms Jin? Which do you prefer getting cut and broken, bone by bone? You’ll soon be begging for me to shoot you, but you see, I can’t take my eyes off how beautiful you look all bruised and covered in blood. If I was a pervert I’d jerk myself off by now, but I’m a bit more classy than that, just by a margin...”

Kazuya suddenly fell silent and shifted his wide-eyed stare to his hands, rubbing them against each other as if he was trying to wash something off them.

Jin had listened to Kazuya’s rant with his mouth hanging open, his eyes widening as he felt more and more disturbed not only by Kazuya’s words but his almost maniac way of saying them.

“What?” he whispered, feeling the rage resurfacing from the depths of his being as he collected his breath.

“What the fuck?!” he yelled, making Kazuya twitch. “Is this how you’re planning on controlling me from now on when I want to get out and live a little?! You’re going to fill my mind with some disgusting images without a second thought because I want to spend some time with my best friend who, by the way, would be in much better use protecting me than you if something happened. If you’re so fond of imagining me being tortured why don’t I go out and hope that he catches me? Maybe you’ll get some nice video tape sent to you so you won’t have to imagine anymore?! You’re so against me living anyway it seems. Because trapped inside four walls being scared isn’t what I fucking call living!” Jin screamed, his deep shock coming out in the form of pure fury as he threw the tequila bottle to the wall and didn’t even twitch as it shattered into pieces.

The sound, however much Jin was prepared for it, made Kazuya jolt out of the spot he had been standing in. “I-I’m sorry Jin, I didn’t... it just... got out of my hands. You’re right, I-” he started but as he moved to look at Jin he stopped. “I should go,” he added and went to get his bag.

Jin didn’t move from the spot until Kazuya was out of sight. When he was sure the boy had gone to another room he let the dizzy and trembling feeling caused by the shock, adrenaline and fear take over. He let his knees give out under him as he crashed down, a part of his body landing on the broken bottle of tequila but as he felt the pieces of glass piercing through his skin, he couldn’t care less. He curled up and let the tears run out freely, not even bothering to try getting off the floor he was now lying on.

This new side of Kazuya had scared him, and he felt like he would lose his mind if he didn’t see the usual Kazuya. He needed to see and feel his Kazuya, not this scary insane-looking boy who told Jin exactly how he would murder Jin without once even blinking. Jin curled up even more, the pain caused by the glass and the sounds around him blurring as he brought his blood-stained hands to his head and buried his face to them.

That was how Kazuya found him as he came back to get his cell phone that he had left in the bedroom.

“Jin?” he pleaded and got down on his knees, trying to brush pieces of glass away from them with the sleeve of his cardigan. “Don’t do this, please go out with Yamashita. I’ll just wash these wounds for you and you’ll be good as new.”

Jin lowered his hands and revealed his tear- and blood-stained face to look at Kazuya with his big, fearful eyes. Was this his Kazuya again? Jin sat up and curled up again, another rush of tears coming down his cheeks.

“I shouldn’t have said that, I usually don’t let people see that. I would never hurt you like that Jin,” Kazuya whispered, reaching out to touch his face.

Jin flinched away from the hand, still looking fearfully at Kazuya. “You’re still the Kazuya I know, right? The Kazuya who loves me and doesn’t want me dead?” he pleaded silently. “Because if that’s not who you really are, I-” he stopped and spoke the next words with a voice barely above a whisper. “Then I don’t think I want to stay safe from _him_ anymore.” Jin clenched his hands into the fabric of his jeans and lowered his head defeatedly.

“I’m not like that, it’s just that I can understand a person like that, because we could easily be the same. But we’re not and that’s the main point. You made me so angry and I wanted to show you the killer, without codes and eloquent mails making him look impersonal,” Kazuya tried to explain. “I love you, I would rather die than have you dead.”

Jin sniffled and stayed quiet for a while. “Don’t leave,” he finally said quietly and raised his head to look at Kazuya. “Don’t leave,” he repeated with begging eyes.

“Okay, I won’t go,” Kazuya answered, got up on his feet and held his hand out for Jin to take, “let’s get away from the glass and fix you up.”

As soon as Jin was on his feet, he leaned his head against Kazuya’s shoulders and circled his hands around him. “I love you,” he said with a hint of desperation in his voice. “I don’t want to lose you to him,” Jin continued with a silent voice, trying to put in words the reason he had been so shocked by Kazuya’s behaviour. Above all, he had been afraid that Kazuya felt like he was the same with the killer. That the side fighting against him with Jin would be taken over by the feeling of connection Kazuya had with the killer.

“Don’t worry, that was just a really, really stupid try to win an argument. I’m not walking around thinking like that, just sometimes when I try to get my head around why the killer picks the victims he picks. I didn’t plan on you getting this... scared,” Kazuya said and hugged Jin close, kissing him on his messy hair.

“I wasn’t scared of the things you said, I was scared because it was you saying them,” Jin said against Kazuya’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for exploding like that.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, I stepped over the line there, you were right to tell me off,” Kazuya reassured, “now, let’s go to the bathroom so you can wash your cuts, and then I’ll clean these shards up.”

“I won’t ask for stupid things again,” he promised and raised his head to kiss Kazuya.

Drawing back from the kiss, Kazuya locked eyes with Jin and turned serious, “it might have been stupid in my eyes, but obviously it wasn’t in yours. If you want to go out with Yamashita then do so. I’m not good at these emotions yet, you’ll have to tell me when I go overboard.”

“No, you were right,” Jin hurried to say. “I’ll tell Pi that I have something better than booze back at home,” he added with a low voice and a smirk, catching Kazuya’s lips again.

“You taste like blood and I’m not a vampire,” Kazuya said and smiled slightly into the kiss, happy that their fight was over, but not happy about the state Jin was in because of him.

“Sure sure, I’ll get cleaned,” Jin sighed faking annoyance and started walking towards the bathroom.

“Good,” Kazuya said approvingly as Jin left. He immediately went to get a broom and a mop to clean the glass and the liquor up. It proved to be pretty easy cleaning the wall since it was painted, but there would always be a dent where the bottle hit the edge of the wooden door frame. He had just thrown the last pieces of glass in the trash when Jin reappeared, looking a bit more like himself again.

“I could’ve cleaned that myself,” Jin said, looking ashamed. “Do you want to go to sleep? You’re still sick after all.”

“I am, but I forgot about it for a moment,” Kazuya answered, amazed at how easily diverted his senses were, “I don’t think I can fall asleep right now though.”

“Hmh,” Jin said, a playful smile appearing on his features as he caught Kazuya by his arms and trapped him against the wall. He kissed Kazuya’s neck. “What should we do, then?” he asked innocently

Kazuya chuckled a little and let the wall behind him bear his weight, “I don’t know, cuddle in front of the TV and eat greasy take out, or...” Kazuya shivered and moaned as Jin sucked on one of his more sensitive spots, “how can you change mood so quickly?” he eventually asked.

“I’m unpredictable,” Jin announced with a smirk and bit on Kazuya’s skin teasingly, his hands settled on the boy’s waist to keep him in place.

“I can tell,” Kazuya answered and ignored the way his head throbbed with the now returned headache and caressed Jin’s arms. “Don’t overdo it though, I’ve hurt you enough to last a year by now.”

“Nonsense, my cuts will be gone in a couple of days. Your hand was far worse,” Jin said and cupped the hand Kazuya had hit a wall with to kiss it gently.

Kazuya sighed, “another one of my stupid ideas, I seem to come up with a lot of them lately.”

He noticed the way Kazuya sniffled and looked a little pained and drew back. “So cuddling in front of TV and eating greasy food it is,” he decided. “What do you want to eat? Chinese, Thai, Italian?”

“Anything that’s not spicy, or containing cinnamon,” Kazuya answered with a wry smile.

“Hamburgers!” Jin said, his eyes lighting up by the thought. “Double cheeseburger with french fries,” he sighed longingly.

“You and your food,” Kazuya muttered but kept smiling, “sure, that will be perfect. Don’t forget to tell Yamashita.”

“Sure sure, I’ll tell him that I won’t be coming because you seduced me wearing a maid outfit with a mini skirt and sexy stockings,” Jin said innocently, already taking out his phone from his pocket.

“Hey! That’s awful, I won’t be able to look him in the eyes again if you do that...” Kazuya sulked, “but I guess it’s only right to let the blame fall on me, that way he won’t be mad at you.”

“I won’t tell him that if you promise to actually seduce me with a maid outfit sometime,” Jin purred evilly with a smirk, his imagination running wild.

“No,” Kazuya answered immediately, looking a bit scared, “that’s not me.”

“Sure, sure,” Jin laughed. “But you could try seducing me sometime, I wouldn’t mind,” he said with a longing look in his eyes.

The younger one blushed a bit, but his voice was steady now, “I can try to do that.”

“Luckyyy,” Jin congratulated himself. “But tonight you’ll stay lying down,” he said commandingly. “I’ll call to get us some food, decide on what you want to watch from the TV meanwhile.” Jin kissed Kazuya’s forehead.

“Okay,” Kazuya mumbled back.

-

Jin cleared his throat and aimed his gaze at the two people sitting at the other side of the table. They had found nothing to work from among the info they had on the victims so they had decided to take a further step and interviewing their families and friends. The ones he was interviewing at the moment was the wife and daughter of Mr. Sasaki, the company owner who had framed and fired one of his own workers, apparently for profit.

Mrs. Sasaki was watching Jin with at least superficial respect, however, the officer could see the suspicion shining through her gaze. The daughter, fourteen years old if Jin remembered correctly, was staring at her hands, looking fearful.

“So, Mrs. Sasaki,” Jin started, involuntarily glancing at the mirror behind her which Kazuya was observing them through and taking notes. “How long had your husband been missing before you called the police?”

“He didn’t come home after work and when he hadn’t come home that morning I called one of his managers at the company to find out if they had maybe gone out to eat... but he had left work as usual. So I called the police that morning,” the woman explained.

“I see...” Jin said and nodded. “Was there anything odd about your husband lately? Did he behave differently from usual? Any little thing is important.”

After reaching out to put her own hand on her daughters’ hands she sighed and answered, “no, I’ve tried to remember anything, but I can’t. He was just the same as usual.”

Jin glanced at his papers to learn the daughter’s name and turned to her with a compassionate smile, trying to ease the nervous and fearful vibe he got from her. “What about you, Mai-chan? Did you notice anything unusual about your father?”

Instead of answering she shot a quick glance at her mother and then shook her head in reply, still not looking at Jin or anything other than the table, her hands now covered by one of her mother’s beringed hands.

Jin frowned, a little puzzled by the daughter’s extremely insecure and rejecting attitude but decided to shrug it off for now. “Was there anyone who would have some kind of reason to dislike your father? Has he had any major arguements or anything?”

Mai shook her head once more and let her stare shift from the table to her mother, who in return took it on herself to answer the question.

“There are always conflicts arising when you try to run a business, but not something even close to big enough to justify a murder,” Mrs. Sasaki said with a decisive voice.

“I see... what route did Mr. Sasaki usually take home? Did he use his own car or some kind of public transport?”

Before Mrs. Sasaki got a chance to answer the question, there was a short knock on the door opposite Jin and Kazuya peeked inside through a narrow opening.

“Mr. Akanishi? Might I have a word with you?” he asked and bowed in apology as the woman and her daughter turned to see what was going on.

“Sure,” Jin answered and turned to Mrs. Sasaki and her daughter. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

Jin walked out with Kazuya and gave him a questioning look. “What is it?”

“If you want the daughter to talk you can’t have the mother in there with her, can you make an excuse for her to leave? Like get Mrs. Sasaki to do some paperwork or something?” Kazuya explained after Jin had closed the door.

“You smell something fishy about her, too?” Jin asked.

“It doesn’t just smell, it reeks,” Kazuya said, “sure, she’s in an unknown environment, but she hasn’t looked up even once, not on the way here either. She was just staring straight at the floor.”

“Mmh...” Jin said and drew his mouth into a thin line. “I’ll work out something to get the mother out. Call Tsukamoto and order him here with the papers the mother needs to sign.” Jin said and brushed his hand briefly over Kazuya’s when turning and going back to the room.

“Mrs. Sasaki, could I ask you to go handle some paperwork with Officer Tsukamoto, he needs you to sign some papers and so on, I’m sure you understand,” Jin said with a gentle smile when he had sat down again.

“I would like to ask your daughter a few questions meanwhile. Nothing to worry about, just a couple of routine questions about the day your husband disappeared and so on. I’m sure you’ve got nothing to hide, I would just like to hear Mai-chan’s insight on her father’s day,” he continued with his most assuring and trust-awakening smile - cornering the woman so that if she refused, Jin would think they had some kind of secrets.

“Of course,” Mrs. Sasaki answered and turned to her daughter, “think carefully now and try to give the nice detective some answers,” she said with an encouraging voice, “I’ll be back soon.”

Jin waited a few seconds until he was sure the woman was out of the door behind which Tsukamoto was waiting for her before turning to Mai with an encouraging smile.

“Would you like some water or something?” he asked casually, trying to get the girl to even utter a word before starting to inquire about more sensitive topics.

“No, I’m fine thank you,” she answered with a very small voice, but kept staring at the table.

“Okay. Just let me know then,” Jin said warmly. “How old are you? Are you already in high school?”

“I’m fourteen, so I’m still in junior high,” her voice was still as small as before.

“Do you have a lot of friends at school?” Jin continued with the lighter topics, observing the girl’s every reaction. She still hadn’t once even glanced at him.

“The girls in my class are nice, and I’ve got a friend I met in elementary school in the classroom next to ours.”

“Do you have many hobbies? Are you in any clubs or anything? I was in the soccer club when I was at your age. It was where the cool guys were. Dunno if it’s in fashion anymore,” Jin laughed, trying to get the girl to at least relax a little even if an eye-contact was out of question.

“I’m in a ‘English conversation’ club, because dad...” her voice faltered a little before she continued, “thought that it’s important to know English well.”

“Is it fun in the English conversation club?” Jin asked. “Or is there some club you’d rather be in?”

“Anything is fine as long as I don’t have to be home too much,” she said but gasped when she realized that she had, for the first time that day looking up at Jin, “I mean... it’s boring at home, and my mother usually comes home late...”

“So your mother works?” Jin asked, purposefully beating a little around the bushes. “Were they often stressed, your parents?“

“She started working in a boutique a year ago when they decided that she didn’t have to be home all day for my sake anymore, but they weren’t stressed.” Mai was now and then glancing at the officer, as if trying to find out what he was fishing after.

“Was your father at home a lot, then?”

The girl hesitated a little, then spoke after giving it some thought, “he had flexible working hours after he started handing more responsibility to his middle managers... I think they made a lot of money last year. He bought my mother a pair of diamond earrings because of it.”

“How nice,” Jin forced himself to say despite the strike of distaste. He knew whose salary had probably been used to the earrings. “Did you father spend time with you at home?”

“Not really,” she answered.

“Why not? Did you not want to spend time with him?” Jin tried to sound light but caring.

“I don’t... he’s usually watching a ball game anyway, I’d rather be at school.”

“Was he often drunk at home? Did he tend to get angry at you? Or was there some other reason for the fact you didn’t want to spend any time with him?” Jin noticed that the girl had gained a little courage, so he started asking more sensitive questions.

“No not drunk, just very...” she paused a little before looking straight at Jin, “you’re not going to tell my mother about this are you? She doesn’t have to know, not now.”

“Was he violent?” Jin asked carefully, restraining himself from promising anything he possibly couldn’t keep.

The girl was back at looking at the table now, clearing her throat a few times. “He hit me, it got more often lately but he always hit me when I’d done something wrong. The bruises were easy to hide... so I haven’t told my mother about it.”

“What kind of things did he hit you for?” Jin asked, forcing to keep his voice calm even though on the inside he was beginning to feel angry.

“It could be over my grades or my table manner, sometimes about my clothes. He hit me on places that wouldn’t show, with his belt, or with his hands... but I don’t understand how this is going to help you find the murderer,” she answered and sighed, “it’s over now anyway.”

“How is your life now with your mother? Does she take care of you?” Jin asked and hid his hands in order not to show how much they trembled by unleashed fury.

“I like my mother, that’s why I don’t want her to know, she’d be so sad because she was happy with dad,” Mai explained.

“I see... well, I believe this was all,” Jin finally said and stood up. “I believe your mother is already done with the papers and is waiting outside, you’re both free to leave now.” Jin said with a compassionate side. “And Mai-chan...” Jin added when the girl had bowed and was already on her way out. “I think you should choose a club you really like in high school and join that,” he said and nodded encouragingly.

“I’ll think about it,” she said, voice small again, before closing the door.

Kazuya entered the interrogation room just moments later and leaned against the closed door. “Well that was interesting, how many dark sides did that man have I wonder.”

“Interesting indeed...” Jin said with dangerous eyes. “I swear, if that guy wasn’t already dead I would get up and go beat him up right now.” Jin clenched his jaw in a way Kazuya recognized from their fights. Jin was furious and would explode any minute now.

“Hey,” Kazuya answered and walked over to Jin, hugging him from behind, “calm down a little, she’s okay now.”

“Yeah, no one will beat her anymore but god knows how long it will take her to recover from all the mental scars,” Jin sighed, suddenly looking sad. He turned around to face Kazuya, a little calmed down but his eyes still had the little tingle signaling one wrong word could cause a storm.

“Well, you’ll inform the mother and advise her to go see a therapist with her daughter, right? She had friends too, she said that, so she won’t be alone,” Kazuya encouraged.

“I still can’t stand it. What makes someone beat their child?”

Kazuya sighed a little, leaning into Jin, “either it’s a matter of gaining control over other people, or he was just a very unstable person. I’m guessing at the first one though, since was running his own business. Let’s not speculate on things we can’t control anymore.”

“Poor girl,” Jin sighed and hugged Kazuya. “If I ever have kids, I’ll love and take care of them,” he murmured.

Jin’s comment, made Kazuya draw back a little, looking at him, “I’m sure you would, normally people do... but you’re still aware of the fact that I’m a man right?” Kazuya asked in a teasing manner.

“Of course I am, I’m just dreaming that we’ll someday be able to adopt,” Jin said and smiled. “I would love to raise a child with you. But if we won’t be able to, I’d still be with you.”

“That’d be a sight. Me, the arrogant and emotionally challenged man, taking care of a kid. They could probably make a drama series out of that,” Kazuya joked, giving Jin’s hand a gentle squeeze before taking a step back, “all better now?”

“You would be a great parent,” Jin assured and smiled. “And I would be the overprotective father who kicks any guy’s ass who dares to come closer than five feet to my daughter. If I had a daughter, that is.” Jin chuckled at the thought.

“Poor kid, she’d get even more odd than me,” Kazuya retorted.

Jin was just about to shoot something witty back at Kazuya when the door was slammed open with Pi marching in.

“Say that it’s not true,” Pi demanded Jin with fierce eyes, grabbing his collar and dragging him out of Kazuya’s grip.

“Wow, what’s up?” Jin asked a little confusedly, struggling in Pi’s grip. “What is not true?”

“That Koyuki has a crush on you.” Pi eyed Jin and when seeing his startled and wide-eyed reaction, slammed him against the wall. “How could you?!”

“It’s not like I asked for it,” Jin defended himself. “I didn’t see it coming either!” Irritation lit up in Jin’s eyes as Pi still didn’t loosen his grip on his collar.

Pi was now furious. “Why do you always do this to me?!” he spat out and punched Jin in the face so hard Jin’s vision went blank for a moment.

“Yamashita calm down!” Kazuya shouted as he tried to at least stop him from hitting Jin again, grabbing Pi’s right arm, “you’re both at work dammit!”

“Stay out of this, Kamenashi,” Pi hissed to Kazuya and forcefully pushed him back, using so much strength that Kazuya stumbled backwards and fell.

“Don’t fucking touch him,” Jin said, his eyes slowly turning from confused and irritated to angry. He shoved Pi’s hands off himself.

“Not again,” Kazuya muttered to himself before getting up to stand in front of Jin, “can’t you two talk nicely with each other about this? You’re best friends, why are you so violent with each other?” he asked and grabbed Jin by his upper arms.

“Shut up,” Pi spat at Kazuya before turning to Jin now with disgust in his eyes. “Why do you always do this to me?”

“Do WHAT?!” Jin shrieked.

“You always beat me at everything! Ever since mid school you always stole my girls, you have always been the one everyone admires. And after managing to get a fucking guy to fall for you you just couldn’t let me have Koyuki?!” Pi spoke without thinking, throwing everything in his mind at Jin.

“Stop speaking like Koyuki is some kind of brainless puppet I’ve deceived. I never tried to hit on her! She’s a grown woman and makes her own decisions. If she doesn’t like you, then that’s it!” Jin yelled.

“Shut up! Don’t talk like you’re the superior here! I hate it how you always try to sound so righteous even though in reality you’re just a fucking hypocrite!”

“Oh, I’m a hypocrite,” Jin said coldly. “Was that all you wanted to say? If so, get out.”

“Don’t worry, I get it,” Pi said through gritted teeth. “Why would you care about my feelings anymore, you don’t need me after all. You’ve got your little wife here who gives you all I did with some extra privileges. Why bother spending any time with me anymore?” Pi was now looking at Kazuya bitterly.

“So this is my fault now? We’ve got a serial killer on the loose who has his attention placed on Jin at the moment and you’re whining about pub nights and a girl that never even liked you in the first place?” Kazuya said, sounding amazed at the illogical reaction Yamashita was having in his opinion.

“And what makes you think he’s safer with you than with me? Who do you think has always been there to cover his ass. Not to mention that without you the problem with the killer wouldn’t even exist!” Pi hissed.

“You-!” Jin roared and gently pushed Kazuya out of the way before marching to the man, “you didn’t just fucking say that! Leave him out of the whatever pathetic meltdown you’re having!” he hissed dangerously.

“You know it’s true,” Pi answered with hateful eyes, “that control-freak has turned you into an inconsiderate ass who doesn’t give a fuck about his friends now that he’s got his own piece of ass.”

“That’s it!” Jin roared and punched Pi in his cheek, making him stumble back. Pi was quick to regain his senses though, and he wasted no time in sending a blow back. In less than a minute they were shoving each other around the room, landing punches wherever they could while hissing profanities, stumbling from one wall to another, crashing into the furniture every now and then. None of the men seemed to hold back or show any signs of giving up.

“Will you two STOP!” Kazuya yelled at them, feeling scared of what could happen if they stumbled and fell in a bad way.

Neither of the men seemed to hear as Pi kicked Jin’s feet out from under him, causing him to fall with a grunt. Pi was on top of Jin in seconds, landing kicks and blows anywhere he could. Jin hissed angrily and grabbed Pi’s hand in the middle of a punch and threw him to the ground with a skillful move. Pi felt his breath getting knocked out of him but it didn’t prevent him from landing a kick on Jin’s jaw as the man hovered above him. Jin fell back and hit his head on the cold floor, the harsh impact making him feel dizzy.

Pi got up from the floor out of breath and observed Jin for a minute before kicking him in the stomach one more time, far too furious to feel regret or compassion, before walking out and shutting the door with a loud bang, not uttering a word to either Jin or Kazuya.

“Can you breathe, did he break something?” Kazuya asked worriedly as he hurried over to take a closer look at Jin’s face.

“That idiot. He’s not gonna get away with this,” Jin growled with a low voice as he painstakingly got up to lean against the wall. “If he dares to approach me with something other than an apology I’ll smash his face to the wall. It has always been an unwritten rule in our fights, no damage to the skull.”

“You could’ve just let him rage for a while and maybe he would’ve cooled down. I don’t like getting drawn into fights that I didn’t start like that, especially not when I’m feeling guilty enough already,” Kazuya muttered, sitting down next to Jin.

“Well, excuse me for not stomaching him blaming it all on you and calling you a piece of ass,” Jin grunted in irritation. “I can take him insulting me, but dragging you into it was crossing the line.”

Kazuya sighed and leaned his head against the wall, holding back the things he wanted to say. This wasn’t the time to discuss Jin’s violent reactions, he would have to calm down first.

“How did he even get to know about Koyuki, I thought only we knew,” Kazuya asked himself.

“Dunno, don’t care,” Jin muttered and turned to cling to Kazuya and nuzzle his battered face against Kazuya’s neck. “Don’t let his words get to you, it’s not your fault.”

“We better get out of here before someone needs this room,” Kazuya mumbled into Jin’s hair, “and get some ice for your face.”

“Yeah,” Jin said and stumbled to his feet. “Let’s drop by the infirmary.”

“Good thing you’ve got one when the cops are throwing punches at each other all the time...” Kazuya muttered back and stood up, brushing the backside of his jeans off.

-

It was evening and Kazuya had curled up in the corner of Jin’s couch while listening to the sound of water running in the shower. It had been an eventful day, to say the least, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it all. First there was the case of the third murder victim’s dark personality. The other victims had come up more or less spot free, but that man, Sasaki, had more skeletons in his closets than anyone would suspect. Jin’s mood had already been a bit weird after Sasaki’s daughter had left and Yamashita’s appearance hadn’t made the situation any better. Kazuya swore that if they as much as hissed at each other again he’d call Tatsuya and then they’d both be sorry.

Unlike what Jin had told him, the guilt was starting to get to him, and the e-mail he had just received from the killer didn’t make it any better. He stared at it for a few moments before looking away again, deliberating if he should just delete it and pretend like nothing had happened or come clean to Jin about it. He decided to read it once more.

_So how about this, my slow turtle. If you step away from that brawling detective, then maybe I’ll let him live. He is of very little interest to me anyway._  
_Deal?_

Kazuya wouldn’t leave Jin now for anything in the world, he refused to let the killer scare him. He just didn’t want Jin to get upset once again at the taunting messages he kept receiving. It also reminded Kazuya, yet again, that Jin wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for him and he most certainly wouldn’t have fallen out with Yamashita as bad as he had done earlier today. It was silly, but it had been uncomfortable when the only person he had ever had to be responsible for before had been himself.

Deciding that he couldn’t decide, he moved the e-mail from the inbox to another folder and put his cell phone away.

After a few minutes Jin appeared in front of him, wearing only a towel around his hips. He sighed and slumped down on the couch beside Kazuya.

“I stood there for thirty minutes and yet all I could think of was how angry I am at Pi,” he huffed. He wasn’t used to being this angry for more than maybe five minutes and it really consumed his energy. He took a hold of Kazuya’s arm and pulled him against his wet bare chest, feeling tired and frustrated.

“Maybe you can try to look at it from his point of view. I’m not approving of his way of handling the Koyuki-business, but he seemed to be really hurt about the other day. Which was my fault... I should’ve just let you go to that pub,” Kazuya said, sounding just as tired as Jin.

“It was my own decision not to go,” Jin said a little more gently. ”And however hurt he is, he still should know better than dragging you into it. It’s like a sacred rule of brotherhood, never badmouth the other’s girlfriend.”

“I’m trying really hard not to worsen that bruise you’ve got on your face by punching it myself,” Kazuya grumbled, “I guess at least he doesn’t see me as your ‘girlfriend’.”

“Don’t be stupid, that’s not what I meant. The rule applies to you as well, even though you’re not my girlfriend,” Jin answered. “I’ve begun to think... why haven’t I dated guys before? Guys understand each other better and I’ve never been that fond of boobs,” Jin pondered out loud, his hand absentmindedly sliding to stroke Kazuya’s chest when mentioning the word “boobs”.

“It’s not like I understand you better than any girl would,” Kazuya answered and felt a bit ticklish as Jin didn’t really think about where he was touching.

“Sure you do. Most of the girls I’ve dated treated me like their gigantic baby. Or started nagging at my clinginess.” Jin laid down on the couch and pulled Kazuya on top of his chest. He stroked the boy’s hair. “This is the most balanced relationship I’ve ever had. I’ve never felt this right and easy being with someone. It’s like I was never meant to be with anyone else but you.”

“You should’ve dated nice girls, like Koyuki, instead of going by looks,” Kazuya lectured half-heartedly and shifted a bit to find a comfortable position. He felt really happy now that he could just relax and breathe in Jin’s scent, not caring about anything else. That was probably the thing he liked most about being around Jin, the way he felt so comfortable with himself in situations he usually never would’ve felt relaxed in.

“I dated hot girls that seemed nice. But they all said I’m too needy and hard to deal with. Am I?” Jin pouted and frowned adorably.

Kazuya chuckled a bit at Jin’s comment and settled his head against Jin’s chest, “yeah, you’re a handful and a big puppy, but I know that’s how you are. Plus you’re awfully cute.”

“Is that so?” Jin asked and Kazuya could hear the pout on his voice. “Why did you fall for me, then? In fact, I don’t think I ever asked what you like about me. Or when did you begin to have feelings for me?” Jin continued to ask.

“One question at the time,” Kazuya joked, “well, I don’t know the exact moment, you sort of grew on me, and the next thing I knew I was kind of miserable the whole time you avoided me. Ooshima, of course, had to tell me I was having a serious crush on you because I’m apparently too stupid to notice those things myself. And I’m in love with you because of loads of reasons...” he said and blushed a little, “but maybe I can sum it up as feeling really safe and like I’m at home with you. I’ve never met someone, besides Ueda, who really tries to get closer to me and to understand me. This is so embarrassing.”

“Cutie,” Jin chuckled and kissed Kazuya’s hair. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night when you ran over here. Now that I think of it, it might be the happiest I’ve ever felt. I want to live and grow old with you. Now that we’re together, I don’t see any other option that feels right. It has to be you,” Jin confessed quietly against Kazuya’s brown curls that were tickling his nose and mouth.

Glad that his cold had gotten much better, Kazuya leaned up and planted a few soft kisses on Jin’s lips, “I wouldn’t want any other than you either.”

“So it would be alright for me to announce right now that you’ll be mine for the rest of your life and you won’t accuse me of being a possessive creep?” Jin asked and chuckled. He slid his arm to lock it around Kazuya’s waist firmly while his lips found their way to Kazuya’s neck to suck on one of Kazuya’s more sensitive spots and make a bright red kiss mark.

“You are possessive, but I don’t mind,” Kazuya answered and made a pleased sound as Jin made goosebumps appear all over his skin, “though it’s hard calling you a creep since you’re really anything but.”

“I can’t help it,” Jin murmured as he kissed Kazuya all over his throat. “When I watch you, I just want to claim every part of you and keep them all to myself.” Jin bit on Kazuya’s skin lightly, one of his hands sneaking under Kazuya’s shirt to stroke his waist while the other caressed Kazuya’s sensitive neck with only its fingertips.

“I’m not getting what’s so fascinating about me though. I’m short, I’ve got a weird nose, some sort of stubby fingers and I probably look like a creature of the night after all the time I’ve been spending in doors these last few years,” Kazuya said while gently stroking Jin’s bare side with one of his hands.

Jin sat up and felled Kazuya down on the opposite side of the couch, settling on top of the boy.

“Let’s see...” he started with a raspy voice.

“You’ve got beautiful eyes, I wasn’t just brown-nosing you when I said that. Your nose is weird but it doesn’t mean it’s not cute.” Jin started and kissed the tip of Kazuya’s nose. “You’ve got a pair of really sensual and inviting lips, I can’t get enough of ravishing them,” Jin whispered, his lips inches away from Kazuya’s before he claimed them fiercely. “And you’ve got a really elegant neck, I love how sensitive it is.”

Jin continued his way down and kissed all the sensitive spots on Kazuya’s throat. “I love your waist, it’s so slim.” Jin’s mouth was now on Kazuya’s ear, whispering huskily while his hands slid under the boy’s shirt to caress the said waist. “Should I continue talking about your thighs and butt next or have I gotten my point across?” he asked and bit on Kazuya’s ear, his other hand daringly moving down to slide its way from Kazuya’s thighs to his butt.

Shivering at every word Jin said, Kazuya had leaned back and enjoyed Jin’s touches, but now he threw his arms around Jin’s neck and smiled, “let’s stop there for now, I think I’ve gotten the point,” he said before turning his head so he could catch Jin’s lips, eagerly kissing him.

Jin hummed approvingly and instantly deepened the kiss, his hands never leaving Kazuya’s waist and butt they were now gently kneading. He angled his head and pushed his lips powerfully against Kazuya’s. His tongue brushed over Kazuya’s lips, asking for permission to enter.

Overwhelmed by the sudden intensity, Kazuya moaned into the kiss and gave Jin the opportunity he wanted to slid his tongue in. The kiss turned heated and Kazuya moved one of his hands to Jin’s back whilst the other stayed on Jin’s neck, moving up into his damp hair. It was amazing, Kazuya thought, how he could feel so uninhibited with Jin.

“If you want to stop, this is your last chance,” Jin said half-jokingly when they parted for air before taking Kazuya’s lips again, this time even more heatedly. His hands got more eager, the one on his waist slowly moving upwards to Kazuya’s chest and the other shamelessly grabbing Kazuya’s butt.

Kazuya got a cheeky idea and moved his hand from Jin’s back to Jin’s butt, giving it a light squeeze while smiling. “Mhm,” he mumbled against the other’s lips.

Jin jolted a little at the unexpected touch but relaxed almost instantly, letting Kazuya touch him. “You just missed your last chance,” Jin whispered and brushed his hand over Kazuya’s nipple as he devoured the boy’s mouth with his tongue once again. Unable, and unwilling, to answer as Jin dominated the kiss, Kazuya pressed his body against Jin and let his hands roam over Jin’s bare skin.

Acting fast, Jin got on his feet and lifted Kazuya up in his arms, a little wince of pain appearing on his face, for his body was battered after the fight. But he didn't pay it much attention, he had more enjoyable things on his mind. Humming a bit, Kazuya bit on the damp skin on Jin's neck, far too lost to feel irritated by being carried by the stronger man. His hands disappeared into Jin's dark locks, gently but commandingly pulling his head back to gain more access to the inviting skin of Jin's throat.

As Kazuya sucked on his skin and marked his neck, Jin forgot the pain in his body in a heartbeat. He groaned and dropped Kazuya on the bed, crawled on top of the boy and let his hands find their way to the other's lower body. He caressed Kazuya's awakening member through his jeans, his other hand teasingly grabbed Kazuya's hips to keep him in place and prevent him from bucking into his hand. His lips had now claimed Kazuya's again, his tongue diving deeper and deeper into the boy's mouth, exploring and tasting every last bit of it.

Kazuya shivered and wrapped his arms around Jin's neck, making sure he wouldn't flee from the kiss that seemed to suck all the energy out of him. And as the hand holding his hips slid to his rear, he moaned a little. Jin chuckled and moved his hands, blindly seeking for the buckle of Kazuya's belt to open it. After fiddling for a while the belt clicked open. Jin wasted no time in opening the button and zipper of the boy's jeans and diving his hand inside to caress the erection with his palm.

”Jin,” Kazuya whispered, not sure if he was asking for the man to finally slid the jeans off or continue his treatment as it was now. Jin, however, decided to go with the first option as he drew back from the kiss much to Kazuya's frustration and pulled the pants off, leaving the boy panting on the bed with his underwear and T-shirt. A T-shirt that seemed very unnecessary now that Jin gave it a thought, so he removed it before hungrily settling his mouth on one of Kazuya's nipples, eagerly teasing it with his tongue.

Arching his back, Kazuya breathed in shakily and just let himself feel what Jin was doing. Feel how his boxers started to feel tight because of the way Jin knew no shame with his treatment, his tongue gracing one nipple whereas the other one was being treated in a similar way by his hand. Jin’s other hand massaging his thigh, moving up to knead one of his buttcheeks every once in a while. Feel how Jin was driving him crazy.

Jin's rough lips traveled higher to suck on Kazuya's neck for a while before reaching to whisper in his ear.

”You're so gorgeous.” The words made Kazuya tremble with both embarrassment and anticipation, and before he knew it, he had once again grabbed Jin's butt to crash their groins together, his thighs settling around the other's hips. Jin groaned loudly at the sudden contact and instinctively rocked his erection against Kazuya's, the boy's hand remained on his rear, pushing Jin against himself. His fingers took a hold of Jin's towel and with a harsh yank the only piece of fabric covering Jin was gone, leaving him naked.

Jin hummed into Kazuya's ear before drawing back from the boy despite Kazuya's best efforts in keeping Jin in place with his thighs. Jin smiled in amusement at hearing Kazuya growl in disappointment and stood up on his knees. He stroked the boy's erection through his underwear for a while but after a while decided to have mercy and remove the last piece of clothing, freeing Kazuya's erection to his sight.

Not wanting to draw it out any longer, Jin reached for his bedside table and managed to get a hold of the lube and a condom after some clumsy fumbling. Kazuya couldn’t help but to chuckle just a little when he watched him lose his balance and regain it seconds later.

“You look a bit like when you were drunk that night you kissed me,” Kazuya teased.

“Hey, don’t make fun of me,” Jin answered with a wry smile and leaned back onto the bed and on top of Kazuya. He poured some of the slippery liquid on his hand, his intense eyes never leaving Kazuya's. Kazuya who now was panting and blushing slightly, Jin's gaze making things even more intimate.

Then, as Jin's fingers were ready to prepare Kazuya's hole, the man suddenly smirked and bent down, taking Kazuya's erection into his mouth without a warning.

Kazuya cried out so sexily Jin felt the hair on the back of his neck standing up. Wanting to hear more of the delicious sounds, he began to bob his head up and down, working the length eagerly. His hand snuck between Kazuya's legs, caressing the opening the best it could, for Kazuya's knees were together. However, the moment Kazuya felt the slick fingers on his most private area, he wasted no second thought before spreading his legs and offering the hole to Jin's hand.

Keeping his mouth moving on Kazuya as he inserted the first finger, Jin held back the urge to hurry with the preparations. He didn't want to hurt his lover, however much his erection was aching to be in that hot, tight place.

Kazuya moaned Jin's name as the man circled his tongue around the sensitive tip of his member, the finger slowly beginning to move and prepare him. Kazuya moved his hands to Jin's head, his fingers digging into the long hair. It took a lot of effort not to force Jin's head down deeper and faster, and as Jin inserted another finger into him, he pulled on the hair almost painfully, the slight pain mixed with the blurring pleasure making him whimper.

Probing Kazuya with his fingers, Jin tried to reach the spot deep inside that made his lover see the stars. When he finally found it, the way Kazuya arched his back and bit his lip seductively gave him a boost of confidence. He smirked mentally and started to mercilessly rub his fingers against that spot, his mouth picking up the pace and sucking on Kazuya's cock with a whole new level of energy.

Kazuya was caught off guard by the intense waves of pleasure Jin was now causing him. He arched his back even more and grabbed Jin's hair harshly. He moaned and whimpered, his whole body trembling under Jin's hands and mouth, and it was with great self-restraint he grabbed Jin's head and detached his mouth from himself.

”I won't last much longer,” Kazuya panted with lidded eyes. He took the condom that was forgotten on the sheets and opened the package with trembling hands, handing it to Jin after he was done. Jin kissed Kazuya lightly and gently removed his fingers from inside the boy before taking the condom and rolling it on himself. With a concentrated put on his face, Jin applied a little extra lube before placing the tip on Kazuya's opening, pushing in.

Jin nuzzled Kazuya's neck, feeling the familiar urge to slam into the delicate body that instant, but he kept focus and concentrated on taking in Kazuya's scent, the shampoo and a tiny bit of sweat. He pushed in little by little, drawing back every now and then to push back in a little further. Kazuya had closed his eyes in slight discomfort and licked his lips, tasting a tiny hint of Jin on them. By the time Jin had sunken into him to the hilt, Kazuya was well adjusted, so he sought the man's lips and nudged his hips a little to signal he wanted more. Jin took the hint and began to move slowly, his lips passionately moving against Kazuya's.

A little content noise left Kazuya's throat, muffled against Jin's demanding mouth, as Jin drove deeper into him and brushed briefly over his prostate. The man angled his thrusts slightly, trying to hit that spot and when he finally rubbed it fully, he smirked at the way Kazuya dug his nails into his neck and shoulders.

Moving a little faster, he made sure to reach Kazuya's prostate with each buck. The boy was now moving his hips in rhythm with Jin's, moaning into the kiss as he felt the pleasure getting greater and greater with each second. Jin drew back from the kiss to look at Kazuya's face, the lustful and pleasured expression sending shivers down his spine. As he thrusted into Kazuya a little more powerfully, the boy's whimpering reaction gave him a dangerous idea.

Jin leaned down to Kazuya's ear. ”You know, I'm still kinda out of it after the fight,” he murmured with a smile and stopped moving. Kazuya frowned in confusion and frustration. Did Jin want to stop now, when they were almost there?

”Y-yeah?” Kazuya panted in response and waited.

”So, you can't possibly demand me to do all the work here,” Jin continued with a raspy voice and bit on Kazuya's earlobe. ”So up on top you go.”

Jin rolled around so that Kazuya was now astride on his hips, his cock still inside the boy. Kazuya bit his lips a little nervously, he had no idea how he should do it.

Picking up on Kazuya's struggle, Jin nudged his hips upwards, hitting the boy's prostate. Kazuya moaned and threw his head back. His hips began to move on their own, in search of that blinding pleasure, and as he managed to come down on Jin's manhood so that his prostate was reached, he fell into a comfortable rhythm without sparing a thought for the fact he had never done this before. Jin's hands were on Kazuya's hips, supporting him as the pace got faster and Kazuya gained more courage and got more daring with each time Jin reached his pleasure spot. He moved up and down with ragged breaths, desperately chasing his release.

Jin couldn’t keep his eyes off his lover, his tousled hair falling out of his face as he threw his head back and offered his whole body for Jin to watch. It was incredibly sexy, seeing Kazuya claim pleasure like that and move so daringly on top of Jin, but he couldn’t keep his eyes open for much longer as he felt his climax getting nearer. One of his hands circled around Kazuya's aching erection and began to tug it eagerly. Kazuya cried out beautifully and pressed even harder against Jin, feeling that familiar tingling feeling in his lower stomach.

After a few more thrusts Jin was gone and he came inside Kazuya with a loud moan, his palm involuntary tightening and adding speed around Kazuya's manhood as he rode his orgasm, the boy joining him with Jin's name on his lips only seconds after.

As Kazuya collapsed on top of him, panting frantically, Jin took a hold of his hips and gently lifted him off his member. Kazuya pressed his forehead against Jin's chest, staying silent until his breathing calmed down and he managed to gather enough air down his lungs to speak.

”Jin?”

”Yes, love?” Jin asked silently and petted Kazuya's hair.

”Can we take a bath?” Kazuya asked, already enjoying the imagination of warm water on his skin and Jin's chest against his back.

”Yes,” Jin said and kissed Kazuya's hair before gently moving him off of him and getting up. ”I'll go get the water running.”

Easing back into the bed, Kazuya listened to Jin rummage around in the bathroom. He still felt warm and fuzzy inside from their sex and he hugged a bunch of pillows with a big grin on his face at realizing how happy Jin made him. With no one around to tell, he took a long look at the pillows and wondered if this was the reason Jin talked to that favorite pillow of his. Maybe it felt better saying it to a pillow than no one at all.

Jin appeared in the doorway a few minutes later and chuckled at the sight he saw. “Did you get that lonely already that you needed to hug my pillows?” he asked and paced to the bed. He sat down on the edge and reached out his hand to brush Kazuya’s bangs out from covering his eyes.

“They’re a good substitute, but nowhere near the real thing,” Kazuya answered, his happy grin replaced with a warm smile, “I was just having a small conversation with them in my head, that’s all.”

“Hm, what about?” Jin asked softly and caressed Kazuya’s cheek, feeling the sudden urge to just forget the bath and lay down to snuggle his lover.

“About how happy I am,” Kazuya whispered while tucking at the corner of one pillow.

“I’m happy, too,” Jin answered with a tender smile. “And I would be even happier if you accompanied me for a bath now.”

Kazuya sat up right away and suddenly looked very alert, “it’s filled up already? Why didn’t you say so?” he pouted and got off the bed holding his hand out to Jin.

“You looked so cute I forgot it for a moment,” Jin confessed with a chuckle and took Kazuya’s hand. When he had gotten up the bed as well he buried his nose against Kazuya’s temple. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Kazuya answered happily and started to pull Jin at his hand to the bathroom, moving backwards as he did.

Jin smiled happily and followed obediently, his eyes sparkling in a way that made him look so awfully much like a puppy fond of his owner Kazuya could almost see a tail wriggling behind Jin’s back.

“You must’ve dated some really weird girls Jin, because there’s no way normal people could resist that way you look at me right now,” Kazuya announced. They were standing in the bathroom now and Kazuya would’ve squealed if he knew how to when he saw the filled bathtub.

“Huh, what way?” Jin asked in confusion and carefully stepped into the bathtub, making some water pour over. He spread his thighs and waved for Kazuya to settle between them with an enthusiastic expression.

“I can’t explain it silly,” Kazuya said and climbed in the tub as well, sighing happily as he felt his muscles relax as water surrounded him. He leaned against Jin’s chest but turned slightly so he could look at Jin. “I just feel special when you look at me like that.”

“Because you are special, dummy,” Jin said with a smile before frowning. “Oh right, where is that...” Jin stuck his hand in the space between the bathtub and the tile wall and searched for a second before his features lightened up and he took out a pink rubber duck with little hearts. He happily squeezed it a few times and smiled contently when hearing it squeal and then placed it in front of Kazuya and leaned back against the tub without a word.

Sending Jin a questioning glance, Kazuya wondered if Jin talked to rubber ducks as well, because he couldn’t really find a reason for a grown man living alone to own one.

“I always bathe with Robert,” Jin announced to Kazuya in response to his questioning look. He pushed the duck briefly under the water and watched it bob up again.

“Oh...” Kazuya answered, deciding that he probably shouldn’t give it much thought or he’d get a headache. “How are you’re bruises doing?” he asked instead and, as gently as he could, leaned back against Jin and relaxed.

“I’ve been through worse,” Jin said lightly, trying his best not to let his mind wander back to the fight, now that he was feeling rather alright. “I’ve been shot before, this is nothing,” he added and circled his arms around Kazuya’s shoulders.

“You’ve been shot?!” Kazuya said, sounding shocked, “where?!” He couldn’t remember spotting a scar, even though he hadn’t really looked that closely, they were usually busy with other things when naked.

“Here, just below my armpit,” Jin said and raised his arm to show the scar. “That’s why I could say with certainty that it hurts like hell but doesn’t do any fatal damage. The doctors said I was super lucky that it hit there instead of my rib cage or arm, that would’ve been a lot more serious, it could’ve harmed my nervous system.”

“Jin,” Kazuya started, looking at the other with big eyes, “that’s almost the exact same spot the fourth victim got shot...” he continued, instinctively reaching out to touch the scar.

Jin only now gave it a thought for the first time. When he had read the autopsy report, he hadn’t paid attention to it, it had somehow just slid past his brain without him making the connection. His eyes widened in realization and shock. “Do you think the murderer is implying something with that?”

“He’s at least telling us that he’s looked into our backgrounds a little more than really necessary,” Kazuya answered. Not wanting to spook Jin, he gave the other an encouraging smile and leaned in for a kiss, “We’ll add that to the files tomorrow, but let’s not think about it anymore and read unnecessary things into it.”

“Yeah,” Jin answered a little thoughtfully before smirking. “If something happened to me, you would rush to save me like a true prince in a shiny armor, right?” Jin kissed Kazuya on his cheek teasingly.

“Probably more like a man possessed by demons,” Kazuya joked, settling back in Jin’s arms.

“You wouldn’t sleep or rest before you’ve found me?” Jin asked, a tiny undertone of his voice telling that even though he acted like it was a joke, it was also an insecure question to make sure Kazuya would come for him, that he could trust that.

“I promise, I’d run as fast as I could, or drive as fast as I could, and I wouldn’t rest until I found you,” Kazuya reassured the other with a firm voice.

“And when you found me I would jump into your arms and you would carry me into the sunset?” Jin’s voice was teasing again as Kazuya’s answer made him relax and lean his chin on the other’s shoulder.

“I can’t carry you any more than I can carry Ooshima, you’re really heavy,” Kazuya snorted.

“One must never forget girlish dreams,” Jin laughed. He pulled Kazuya closer and buried his whole face to Kazuya’s shoulder, nuzzling it with a content sigh.

“You can have them for both of us, I’m not convinced about their practical usage to solve anything at all.”

“Says the person who lets his boyfriend carry him all the time,” Jin scoffed against Kazuya’s skin.

“That’s because you leave me no choice, you just pick me up unannounced and I don’t want to make us both crash into something so I stay still,” Kazuya said, feeling embarrassed that it was brought up. He would make sure to never let Jin carry him again now that it was pointed out.

“I like carrying you. It’s not like I look at you as a girl, you’re just so light and... carryable,” Jin laughed as he picked up on Kazuya’s embarrassment. “Maybe you should gain some weight, I’m sure I wouldn’t carry you around so much if you weighed twenty kilos more.” Jin examined Kazuya’s stomach as he spoke, pouting at how tiny it was. “But then again, then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy your slim waist as much,” Jin continued with a pondering expression, his arm locking around Kazuya’s waist.

Kazuya snorted at Jin’s ponderings, he was quite happy with himself, he didn’t need to carry around extra weight now that he didn’t play baseball and therefore didn’t need that much muscles anymore. “I’m not gonna eat myself to death like a certain someone,” he joked and pinched Jin in his thigh a little.

“Are you saying I’m fat?” Jin said with a pout, giving Kazuya his best “don’t scold me master” -look Kazuya recognized from all the times Jin had played dog.

“No, I’m saying that one day you’ll either choke on a slice of pizza or your cholesterol will give you a heart attack,” Kazuya lectured, not wanting to play along with Jin’s game.

“Nonsense,” Jin said lightly. “And I’ve got you taking care of me when I’m old, fat and wriggly,” he added with a grin.

“Remind me to put a lock on the fridge the day you retire from the force and stop getting exercise,” Kazuya muttered as he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, enjoying the water and the warmth.

“I would pick it open. Nothing can come between me and food, not even you, as lovely and cute as you are.” Jin planted a few light kisses on Kazuya’s shoulder and moved his head off to bury it to the boy’s hair instead.

“So what you’re saying is that you’d kill me, or at least render me unconscious, to get to food?”

“No, I would lock you up if you tried to prevent me from eating, eat and then let you out being happy and full. And then I’d kiss and hug you until you would forgive me,” Jin said innocently, chuckling when thinking how much he would piss Kazuya off by locking him up.

The not at all amused Kazuya pinched Jin in his thigh again, muttering something in disapproval. “You’re hopeless... but at least you’ve thought of a way to make it up to me.”

“Trying to control my eating is pretty much the same thing as if I told you you can use your computers only two minutes a day,” Jin explained his undying love for food.

“You’re pretty weird for being normal,” Kazuya noted.

“And you’re pretty normal for being a weirdo,” Jin answered back and kissed Kazuya with a smile.

“Perfect couple then,” Kazuya mumbled into the kiss.

The latest message from the killer was left forgotten, for now.

-

He could still hear some whispers echoing down the corridors of the police station, but they were fewer and less fervent than they had been before. Kazuya knew that this was usually how it went, the gossip was explosively interesting the first few days and then it died out until no one even talked about it anymore. While walking down the hallway he almost felt like whistling. Even though it was just another day at work and he was on his way to pick up a report, he was still incredibly happy after the night before. He took long and energetic strides, wanting to get where he was going as quickly as possible. That’s when he heard Matsumoto’s voice travel down a corridor, making Kazuya stop in curiosity.

Kazuya peeked around a corner, hoping to be able to see who the chief was talking to, and saw the side of a suit clad man standing next to Matsumoto. Curiosity taking over, Kazuya went down the hallway, hoping to do it in an inconspicuous way.

The man was talking about something with a worried and stressed expression, until he saw Kazuya approaching them behind Matsumoto’s back. His eyes widened and a pleasantly surprised smile appeared on his features as he rushed to Kazuya.

“Kamenashi-kun?” he asked in astonishment.

“Oh, Mr. Yamamoto, it’s nice meeting you,” Kazuya answered politely, bowing as he did. He recognized the man now, it was one of his father’s closest friends, a wealthy man involved in politics, just like Kazuya’s own father.

“It’s been a long time,” Yamamoto answered and smiled. “I haven’t seen you around your father lately, how have you been?”

Kazuya pondered what he should tell the other, but decided that a few parts of the truth couldn’t hurt.

“I’m fine thank you, I’m busy with university and things, but not too much. I’m actually doing some extra work here at the police station for now,” he explained, waving his hand in the general direction of Matsumoto.

“Ah, yes, Kamenashi has made himself an invaluable asset here at the station,” Matsumoto added.

“Is that so? I heard that you’re studying psychology now, are you aiming to become a criminal profiler or something in that field?” Yamamoto asked, his expression revealing that Kazuya’s father wasn’t exactly pleased with Kazuya’s choice of major.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Kazuya answered with a smile, pleased that his dad hadn’t come up with a way to rope him into the family business yet.

“So, you’re working here? Maybe he could give us a hand with finding my son?” Yamamoto asked Matsumoto. “I know he’s very intelligent.”

“Well, I have him assigned to another case...,” Matsumoto started but soon realized the benefits of solving a case like this quickly, especially when there was a political figure involved in it, ”but I’m sure he can manage both tasks, what do you say Kamenashi? Are you interested in taking on a kidnapping case?”

“I’d be glad to help you find your son Yamamoto, his name is Yoji right?” Kazuya asked. Already determined to solve the case, he was working through different possible motives in his head.

“Yes, that’s his name. He was on his way home from school. Our driver picked him and his friend up and after the friend was dropped off, the car was attacked. We found the driver unconscious on the side of the road.” Yamamoto was now looking worried again. “I received this photo a few hours ago,” he continued and took out his cellphone to show a picture of the younger Yamamoto blindfolded and tied, but apparently unharmed.

“Hmm, that’s not much to go on. So the driver doesn’t remember anything and there’s no witnesses?” Kazuya asked, trying to make out the room behind the kid in the photo, but failing since it was completely out of focus.

“He said that the attackers had covered their faces. And our house is quite far away from civilization, they waited until the car had reached more deserted roads. The car was found abandoned some miles away, so they apparently continued with their own one.”

“They had obviously given it a lot of thought,” Kazuya commented, “well, I’ll inform Akanishi and then we’ll come over with a team, start to do some research and wait for the kidnappers to message about the ransom, because money is the most probable motive right now.”

“Yes, thank you. Who is Akanishi?” Yamamoto couldn’t help asking, looking questioningly at Kazuya and Matsumoto.

“It’s the criminal detective that’s working with Kamenashi right now,” Matsumoto hurried to explain, “that way Kamenashi has authority to do things he couldn’t normally do if he worked alone.”

“Oh, I see.” Yamamoto nodded. “Well, please come over to my house, I’ll go back and wait for a message.”

“We’ll be over right away,” Kazuya answered and bowed once more as Yamamoto left him and the chief. “It’ll be okay,” he said before Matsumoto got a chance to speak.

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing, because if your father finds out about the somewhat compromising situation you’re in right now he’ll surely get very angry at you,” Matsumoto sighed.

“It’s okay, I’m a genius after all,” Kazuya answered with a smile and patted the chief’s shoulder before walking off.

-

“I still can’t believe we have to meddle in the kidnapping of some rich brat. Why couldn’t you let someone else handle it?” Jin complained as he drove on a fancy countryside road towards the Yamamoto mansion. He wasn’t enthusiastic about the case, he was sure the boy would be easy to find.

“It’s not only to help them, it’s because we’ve been having such bad luck with the serial killer investigation that we need to solve at least one case now and then to keep people happy,” Kazuya lectured back.

Jin grumpily mumbled something inaudible, his face getting grimmer as he saw the huge mansion appearing after a few curves on the road. He muttered something about high and mighty but useless people and sped up irritatedly.

“I guess telling him about us is a no-no?”

“Yeah... he’s one of my father’s closest friends, so until I’ve managed to work things out with my grandfather we should probably not tell Yamamoto,” Kazuya answered, feeling really bad for making Jin hide things again.

With this Jin suddenly hit the brake and stopped on the empty road just to lean over and catch Kazuya’s lips. “Then I better have one in storage,” he announced grumpily into the kiss.

“One would think a grown man could survive a few hours without getting kissed,” Kazuya scoffed, but gladly answered the kiss.

“Shut up, you know I’m needy. I get grim if I feel like I don’t get enough attention from you,” Jin pouted and retreated to start driving again.

The boy sighed a little in response and admired the view, the Yamamoto mansion had a large European style garden and he wondered if there might be enough time for him to stroll in it later. He remembered that Yamamoto’s wife was very proud of her rose garden.

Jin grumbled to himself in dissatisfaction and stopped in front of the huge gates. “Is there some magic words I need to say so these open?” he asked Kazuya and crossed his arms.

“I guess you can try with my name? Press the button on the speaker, they’ll buzz us in.”

“Stupid gates, stupid house,” Jin squawked to himself and got out of the car to do as told.

“You’ll get used to it!” Kazuya shouted after him with a grin, he couldn’t help himself teasing Jin a bit more.

After a while the gates were opened with a buzz and Jin got back to the car to drive in. “They had a butler to answer the speaker!” he said in a baffled manner. “Who has a butler nowadays?”

“Lots of people,” Kazuya answered casually, “we still have a few servants in service, my grandfather has a few more since he doesn’t have the energy to look after the estate all by himself.”

“All I can think of is how thankful I am you don’t have any awkward servant following you around,” Jin huffed and parked the car in the yard, settling his polite smile on with much restraint before stepping out and marching to the enormous front door with Kazuya in tow.

“I’d never accept someone following me around in that way,” Kazuya retorted, “anyway, let’s concentrate on the case, now shall we?” He asked as he climbed the last step on the big staircase and went to press the doorbell at the door.

Jin rambled something under his breath but grew silent the moment the door was opened and the butler let them in, his eyes lingering on Jin’s bruised face for a moment longer than necessary. Jin rolled his eyes mentally and stepped in after Kazuya into the fancy hallway.

Yamamoto was already hurrying down the huge staircase to greet them.

“Kamenashi-kun! Welcome! Make yourselves at home!” he said delightedly and rushed to shake the boy’s hand.

“As if I could do that in a place like this,” Jin muttered under his breath through gritted teeth, forcing his expression to remain calm and polite.

“I’m very sorry that I’m not here under more pleasant circumstances,” Kazuya answered, he had been brought up in environments like these so he had picked up on how they talked to each other pretty quickly. Even though he never felt at home, he at least knew how to behave. “And this is Akanishi, the criminal detective we were talking about earlier,” Kazuya added.

“Akanishi, this is Yamamoto Nobu, the father of the kidnapped boy,” he explained to Jin.

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Jin said with his most superficial polite voice he used mainly when he wanted to piss Ando off. Yamamoto looked suspicious for a moment as he registered the numerous bruises on Jin’s face but eventually smiled politely and bowed.

“The pleasure is mine. I see working as a police can be quite painful at times,” he pointed out kindly, referring to Jin’s face.

“Actually, sir, I fought with my best friend,” Jin announced, enjoying the baffled look his words created on the man’s face.

“Is-is that so?” Yamamoto stuttered in confusion and glanced at Kazuya insecurely. “Anyway, please come up to my office, I’ll ask the kitchen to bring us some tea,” he said and started making his way upstairs. Jin snickered to himself and followed the man, at least he still had ways to keep himself entertained even though he could plainly see on Kazuya’s face that the boy didn’t approve of his methods.

“A technician of sorts will arrive later, he’s just waiting for an officer to pick him up,“ Kazuya hurried to tell Yamamoto, trying to take the focus away from Jin’s weird behavior, “we’ll record all phone calls and, if we may, look through Yoji’s room, in case they’ve contacted him somehow in beforehand.”

“Yes, of course,” Yamamoto said as he opened the door to his office and held it open for Jin and Kazuya. “Anything that helps finding my son.”

“Thank you, we will try to keep the intrusions to a minimum, but the main thing is that we find Yoji as quick as we can,” Kazuya answered with a calm smile, happy he had brushed up on the protocols for investigations during the last few weeks.

“Yes,” Yamamoto said and rubbed his eyes, looking very stressed and tired

“I think he’ll be alright, right Akanishi?” Kazuya asked, hoping that Jin would back up his opinion since Yamamoto looked terribly worried.

“Yes, kidnappers don’t usually harm the hostages,” Jin said, half-lying by swallowing the last part of the sentence; unless the person blackmailed refuses to cooperate by e.g. calling the police. He looked at Yamamoto and seeing his worry softened his heart a little.

Yamamoto bit his lip and sat on the couch located in one of the corners without giving them an answer. 

Kazuya sent Jin a quick smile, grateful that he had backed him up even though Yamamoto didn’t look relieved, before turning towards the man again, “have there been any threats previous to the kidnapping? Anything at all? Strange phone calls, dogs disappearing, Yoji looking tired or sad?” he asked as he seated himself in an armchair opposite to Yamamoto.

“No, nothing,” Yamamoto said immediately. “I can’t think of a single reason for anyone to kidnap him.”

“Apart from money then,” Kazuya added. All the signs were telling him that it was about money, but why hadn’t the kidnappers sent a message about a ransom yet? It didn’t make sense so he tried to grasp after every straw he could think of, right now he couldn’t think of anything else.

“Ah, the tea is here!” Yamamoto said as a maid knocked and came in with a tray. “Why don’t we enjoy a cup while waiting for the others?” He managed to smile a little as he waved for Kazuya and Jin to take a cup.

As they had all poured themselves some, Jin mentally making faces as there wasn’t any honey or sugar available, Yamamoto leaned back and sighed. “A good cup of tea always helps one to relax. So, how are your studies going, Kamenashi-kun? I heard your grandfather made sure you would be tutored by Ms. Ooshima, the leading psychology professor in Japan.”

“Yes, she’s quite the eccentric, but she’s undeniably the best one there is in Japan, I’ve learnt a lot from her,” Kazuya answered. It wasn’t just that she had thought him things about the human psyche, she had taught him many things about himself too. He had to force himself not to smile stupidly at thinking about her and Yamashita setting up that meeting between him and Jin.

“I think I’ll be able to graduate before the others, then I’ll have to think about the next step,” Kazuya added as he sipped his tea, “Ah, I remember this tea, it’s your wife’s favorite isn’t it? Where is she by the way? On a business trip in China as usual?” he asked.

“Oh, you’ve got a brilliant memory. Yes, she had some business to take care of in China so she left a week ago. I called her, she’s currently on her way back.” Yamamoto sipped his tea. “So, you don’t have any particular plans for after you graduate from university?”

Kazuya pondered for a few seconds before speaking again, knowing that everything he said would probably be reported back to his father in a few days, “No, I haven’t got any plans yet, but that’s the privilege of being young, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it certainly is,” Yamamoto answered and nodded approvingly. “You know, a friend of mine, Takeshi, has a daughter just about your age. You might know Mr. Takeshi, he owns a rather successful hospital here in Tokyo. Ai-chan is really smart, she’s currently in medical school. You would probably make a great match. I can talk to Takeshi and suggest a little meeting, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind his daughter meeting such an intelligent young man from the Kamenashi family.” Yamamoto smiled in a friendly manner, not noticing Jin’s now almost deadly glare.

Stumped at the sudden turn of events, Kazuya cleared his throat a few times, hoping that Jin wasn’t blowing their cover completely because he didn’t dare look at him right now. It was about the right time for his parents to start setting up meetings with young girls, but they would probably not dare to consider he wouldn’t come to them either way. He guessed that Yamamoto was just trying to show his loyalty to the Kamenashi family.

“It’s very nice of you to recommend me to a close friend like that, but I don’t think I want to marry before I’ve gotten this adventurous streak out of my system,” Kazuya finally said, trying to be courteous.

“Is that so?” Yamamoto said, a little disapproving hint in his voice. “Well, when you feel like settling down, don’t hesitate to ask me or your father for suitable matches, we have a wide net of social contacts.”

Jin suddenly sprang up from his chair, an expressionless mask forced on. “Excuse me, I think I’ll take a little break and go smoke. I don’t wish to intrude your families’ business.”

“Ah, certainly,” Yamamoto answered, a little confused. “Ask the butler to lead you to our smoking room.”

Jin bowed and marched out, his mouth drawn to a thin, stern line.

“I think we scared him away,” Kazuya joked, doing his best to keep the spotlight off how incredibly weird Jin had been acting.

“Yes, it’s very visible that he isn’t used to our style of living,” Yamamoto answered and uttered a laugh. “I guess he comes from a rather average family and is married to a middle-class woman?” Yamamoto asked, taking for granted that a man at Akanishi’s age was already married, since that was how things went in his own social class. If not for having children and a heir to take over the family business, then for strengthening the business ties by marrying a fellow company’s daughter.

“Well, you got half of your guesses right, he isn’t married yet,” the boy said matter-of-factly, trying not to put any attention to the fact.

“Really?” Yamamoto raised his eyebrows in astonishment. “I’m sure he would find company easily among the women of his class with his looks. But then again, maybe he scares them away with his apparently wild nature,” Yamamoto mused and laughed lightly, referring to Jin’s battered face.

It had been nice at first, meeting people he knew and treading on familiar grounds, but the more he spent time with Yamamoto, the more he remembered how much he detested these men. It wasn’t for the reasons Jin did though, Kazuya had met many honorable men with big fortunes, it was because the men that Kamenashi senior collected around him were spitting images of himself. They talked about people as if they were discussing the breeding of a dog and that was making Kazuya’s overly rational mind want to cry out in protest. Biting back on all the comments he really wanted to say, he chose to keep calm for now.

“He’s a fine criminal detective though. Ueda, my aunt’s son, you might’ve met him before, can vouch for that too as he is working at the same police station. Matsumoto has collected a very talented group of detectives and officers to work for him,” Kazuya explained.

“Ah, Ueda, yes, I remember him. He’s your cousin from your mother’s side, isn’t he? His parents own a small law firm, right?” Yamamoto asked, totally ignoring Kazuya’s words about Jin’s excellence. “Is he still living with that man?” he asked disapprovingly.

“These are modern days Yamamoto,” Kazuya said and shrugged, “you’d be surprised to find out how quickly the world is changing.”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Yamamoto sighed. “I feel sorry for Ueda senior, his son firstly not having any children to continue his family line and secondly deciding to be a police officer instead of becoming a lawyer. Well, fortunately one of his daughters is going to take over the law firm, wasn’t it so? I can’t but hope my son won’t create any unnecessary problems.” Yamamoto gave Kazuya a stern, almost accusing look, making clear he wasn’t satisfied with the way Kazuya neglected the responsibilities his name brought him.

“Hmm, well yes, maybe so,” Kazuya mumbled, avoiding to answer any questions directly, “I think I will go and find Akanishi now the others should be arriving momentarily,” he said and stood up, giving Yamamoto s light bow, “I’ll find the way myself.”

“Oh alright,” Yamamoto answered and sipped his tea, his eyes following Kazuya until he disappeared out of the door.

-

“Stupid house. Stupid gaffer. Stupid case,” Jin grumbled to himself and took a deep inhale from his second cigarette. He was glaring at the fancy furniture, looking so expensive Jin hadn’t dared to sit on a chair but had placed his butt on the ground beside the ashtray. Who did that guy think he was, just offering some girls to Kazuya like he was some expensive dog who mustn’t mate with anything besides his own race. Jin kicked the wall lightly in annoyance, careful not to drop the magnificent paintings hung on it.

The door suddenly slid open and a small voice called his name before Kazuya revealed himself and shut the door behind him. “Jin, are you here?” he asked because he hadn’t spotted Jin sitting on the floor behind a chair.

Jin grunted in response, relaxing when hearing Kazuya’s voice.

“There you are, I was wondering if you’d strolled out to the garden,” Kazuya said softly, sinking down to sit next to Jin.

“Found your bride yet?” Jin asked and kept his gaze firmly on the wall with a peeved expression.

“I had forgotten about how much I hate dad’s friends, sorry for not warning you,” Kazuya answered, leaning against Jin’s shoulder with his own. “I’ve been so happy and busy lately I think I’ve suppressed how unhappy I was with things before.”

“Mhm.” Jin pressed his head against Kazuya’s shoulder. “But if you ever feel like having a bride and getting married, just tell me. I don’t have that much to offer you after all, a small flat and a criminal detective’s modest salary. I can’t compete with the luxury taking over your family business would give you.”

“Stop being silly, I’m more than happy to end the Kamenashi family line with me, they can start to sell the company shares off as my father dies, I don’t care. And as for me finding a bride, that’s not ever going to be the case. Can you imagine me ruining a poor girl’s chances for love for something as silly as family honour? Never.”

“If she won’t marry you, then someone else her family approves,” Jin sighed. “Well, as long as you’re sure you want to choose me over the business, it’s alright.”

Kazuya reached out to gently caress Jin’s hand, ignoring the way the cigarette smoke in the room was starting to get to him. “I was never going to take over the company, I’m just going to find another thing to do after university and another thing after that and so on, maybe I’ll keep working with the police for a while, I don’t know. But taking over the company was never an option.”

“Okay,” Jin whispered. “I just want to make sure I’m not in your way.”

“You’re not in my way, you’re exactly where I want you to be,” Kazuya answered, blushing slightly as he did.

Jin hummed, feeling a little cheered up, and moved his head down to briefly kiss Kazuya’s cheek. “Should we go back?”

“No, let's go outside and wait for the others. I feel bad for Yoji, having a father that’s this controlling and then having to live through getting kidnapped because he’s his father’s son...” Kazuya muttered and got up to his feet, holding his hand out to Jin.

Taking the hand, Jin raised to his feet and put his cigarette out in the ashtray. He smiled at Kazuya timidly and squeezed the boy’s hand in his.

“Feeling better?” Kazuya asked.

“A tiny bit,” Jin said and sighed. “Let’s just find that boy so we can get out of here.”

“Yes, it’s a beautiful house, but the person owning it isn’t that nice,” Kazuya mused. Suddenly getting an idea on how to get Jin in a better mood, he took a step forward, leaned up and kissed the other gently, letting his hands settle on Jin’s arms.

“This is risky,” Jin said, sounding terribly satisfied. He circled his arms around Kazuya’s waist to bring him closer and answered the kiss with great eagerness.

Just as they were about to chuckle and break the kiss, the door was swung open with someone coming in.

“The others arriv-” Yamamoto cut his sentence when he saw the two men in the middle of a kiss. His jaw fell open and even though the two broke apart almost instantly, the damage was already done.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Yamamoto asked with wide eyes, completely stunned.

Kazuya sighed, cursing at his own stupidity, but decided that it was probably for the best anyway, he didn’t particularly like to lie about himself. “As I said before, you’d probably be surprised if you knew how quickly the world is changing,” Kazuya announced, “you can call my father or whatever you want to do, but that won’t change the fact that I AM going to find Yoji and bring him back unharmed. Or do you doubt my intelligence?”

“No,” Yamamoto answered immediately, still looking baffled. “No, I don’t doubt you. Just... He is a...”

“Man? Commoner?” Jin cut in, looking irritated. “I thought we were here to find your son, not make a scene about who Kazuya might be dating.” He determinedly led Kazuya out, gripping his hand tightly. Yamamoto remained paralyzed for a moment before frowning in dissatisfaction and following them.

-

Nakamaru shot them both a questioning glance as Yamamoto kept staring in their direction. He was setting up his computers and some other equipment in a drawing room at the back of the house, looking out into the luscious garden.

“I’ve connected the receiver to the phone lines,” a voice crackled through a walkie talkie placed on the table next to the equipment. Nakamaru quickly reached for it and replied, “Roger that, you can return to the station now.”

“That means that we’re all set up now that Suzuki has connected us to their fiber cable,” Nakamaru announced and waved to Kazuya to come join him at the computer.

“What’s going on here?” the lab assistant whispered as Kazuya took the hint and pretended to look at something he was shown on the screen.

“Nothing important, just ignore it. I want to take a look at the security cameras they’ve got installed at the gate and by the garages, do you mind if I use your computer?” Kazuya asked, already seating himself in front of the humming machine.

Nakamaru sighed and crossed his arms in dislike, “you’re going to hack into their surveillance system, aren’t you?”

“Well... maybe,” Kazuya answered, “I’m just gonna crack a few firewalls, that’s all, I’m not in the mood to call up surveillance companies and chase them all across town to get my hands on a stupid password.”

After a few tries, he managed to access the server that hosted the recorded images and beamed at his victory. “I’m just going to take a quick look,” he explained to Nakamaru, “Yamamoto says that he hasn’t received any threats before this, or seen anything unusual, but the kidnappers haven't even let him know what they want in ransom for the boy. There’s something weird going on,” Kazuya explained.

I took Kazuya nearly forty minutes, but when he was done he felt even more confused. There were no signs of anything unusual going on in any of the cameras, and he had looked two days back in time. There had to be something though, something that made him this conflicted at penning down money as a motive.

“I just called the boy’s friend, he didn’t see anything unusual that day.” Jin appeared behind Kazuya and Nakamaru, still holding his cell phone. “And don’t ask me why it took me so long. I had to first talk to the maid, then the butler, then the father’s personal assistant, then the father himself and then I finally reached the boy,” Jin murmured, his grumpy mood returned by the encounter with another wealthy family.

“Sounds like everything is working against us...” Kazuya muttered and leaned back in his chair. “So we’re stuck on square one now, I was at least hoping for his friend to have-” Kazuya stopped mid-sentence and stood up so quickly that the chair almost toppled over.

“Of course!” he exclaimed, pressing one of his palms against his temple as he did, “I was missing the obvious.”

“What?” Jin and Nakamaru asked in unison, Nakamaru sounding interested whereas Jin was just grumpy.

“I have to confirm it first,” Kazuya mumbled back, once more sitting down at the computer, furiously typing away. “Aha!” he once again exclaimed, but now he stayed seated. “The other boy that was riding in the car with Yoji lives just a few miles away or so, it’s just as secluded as this property. If they wanted to get money by kidnapping and had made sure to know the day to day habits of Yoji, then why didn’t they kidnap the other rich kid as well?” he asked no one in particular. “They always rode in that same car on their way home from school.”

“Well, what is their motive then?” Jin asked, now sounding interested. He leaned his chin on Kazuya’s shoulder to examine the computer screen, in his mind smiling smugly when seeing Yamamoto stare at them from the corner of his eye.

“Yes, Yamamoto, what is the motive indeed?” Kazuya said while turning towards the father. “Do I have to find out by myself or will you tell me voluntarily?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Yamamoto said stubbornly, a drop of sweat appearing on his forehead. Jin snorted. It was obvious the man was lying.

“Okay, then I’ll just assume that your occupation is the reason,” Kazuya announced and got up from the chair to stretch his legs. “Nakamaru, Mr. Yamamoto here is involved in politics, find any scandals concerning him and his party’s biggest competitors, I’m going to go think about it in the garden,” he informed and walked over to the glassdoor connecting the drawing room with a big terrace. Nakamaru could find out the things he wanted to know just as quickly as he could, so he decided to take the chance of getting a closer look at the roses before they had to hurry away to find the kid.

Jin huffed and went to sit on the couch by Yamamoto while Nakamaru worked on the computers. The man looked at him somehow alarmed and moved away from Jin as far as the couch would let him.

“You know, he is probably scared,” Jin silently said to Yamamoto.

“Who is?”

“Yoji, your son that is at the moment tied and blindfolded somewhere without any idea what’s happening and what they will do to you. But I think he will wait and believe his father is coming for him.”

Yamamoto didn’t answer. He stared at his hands looking troubled and guilty.

“Which one is more important, keeping your pride or getting your son safe as soon as possible?”

“I...“ Yamamoto’s voice trailed off and he suddenly looked decades older than he really was. Jin leaned back on the couch and threw his head back to stare at the ceiling.

“Your son is eleven, right? I remember the time I was his age. I looked up to my father so much. I would follow him everywhere. I know I’m a commoner and my family life was probably different from Yoji’s, but I doubt his feelings differ so much. Couldn’t you just think about your son and help us save time by telling what this is all about.”

Yamamoto hung his head and sighed. “There was an accusation some years ago that I had allowed myself to be bribed, but I managed to keep it out of the tabloids. To be honest, the kidnapper called me right after I received the photo, telling me that he would kill my son if I didn’t publicly confess that I have accepted bribes.”

Jin jumped to his feet in terror. “Why didn’t you tell us right away?! That means Yoji’s life is in danger! Nakamaru, look for people who suffered a loss at the last elections or journalists who wrote about it! KAZUYA!” Jin dashed out of the room to the garden, leaving Nakamaru to feverishly look for information and Yamamoto to hang his head and feel guilty.

Kazuya had been strolling down a lane trying to remember as much as he could about the political circles his father and his friends moved in. He had a hard time concentrating on the flowers until he reached the partially secluded rose garden he had heard about from his mother. It was stunning. He was just about to lean down to breathe in the smell from a rose bush bearing filled pink roses when he heard Jin shout his name from the direction of the house. The seriousness of the situation hit him and he started to run back the pathway he had come down moments ago.

“I’m here!” he shouted as he spotted Jin by the terrace, “what is it?” he added as he hurried over to the other.

“Yamamoto confessed, he had been accused of accepting bribes some years ago but he managed to keep it out of the spotlight. The kidnapper had contacted him earlier but he kept it secret. The kidnapper demands Yamamoto to publicly confess his corruption or the son will be killed,” Jin quickly explained, slightly out of breath and his face reflecting worry and a tiny bit of fear.

“He’d rather have his son killed than coming clean straight away?” Kazuya growled and set off in the direction of the drawing room. However, instead of confronting Yamamoto, Kazuya ran straight to the computers and watched Nakamaru work. There was no time for being emotional.

“Who’s the one person always trying to get to you in your opposing party?” Kazuya asked Yamamoto, hoping a wild guess would suffice.

Yamamoto pondered for a minute. “Kawaguchi? Or maybe Ebisawa...” he finally answered, looking at Kazuya somehow wildly, like he was getting ready to defend himself from harsh accusations.

“Thanks,” Kazuya answered, now keeping his tone completely informal with the older man.

“Ebisawa it is,” Nakamaru announced and pointed at his screen, “he’s been making ten phone calls since yesterday to a mobile phone with no registered user, from his office phone at that.”

“Very inconspicuous of him,” Kazuya noted, “now we just have to find who he’s paid to do the job for him. Let’s look through the stupid options, like if he owns any properties in addition to his home,” Kazuya instructed Nakamaru.

“No, nothing that looks suspicious... but wait, isn’t this guy his junior,” Nakamaru mumbled.

Kazuya leaned closer to the screen and took a closer look at the newspaper article showing on the screen. It seemed that Ebisawa’s fellow party member had bought a stretch of old industrial properties a month ago, causing an uproar since he was planning on clearing the lots to sell the land to new developers.

“That’s the best we’ve got so far,” Kazuya nodded and turned towards Jin who had joined them at the table.

Jin loaded his gun and grinned. “I’m on my way. You two will stay here and call me if you find other hints. I’ll call for back-up if it’s the right location.”

“But Jin...” Kazuya started but lowered his voice to a whisper, “don’t get lured off with someone except if you know them really well.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jin said energetically and dashed off, glad he finally got some action.

-

An hour had passed and both Nakamaru and Kazuya were having trouble sitting still. Yamamoto’s chef had brought them sandwiches and a mountain of food which no one had the stomach to touch, Yamamoto himself not even looking at it. There were so many things that could go wrong when dealing with situations like these and none of them were used to these things. Nakamaru usually just worked with the following forensic investigations after a crime, Kazuya was new in the game and the father had never been in a situation like this before.

However much Kazuya had felt empathy for the other a few hours earlier, he felt nothing anymore. What kind of man found his own honour more important than the life of his only son? Kazuya decided that he didn’t want to know.

Nearly startling them all to death, Kazuya’s cell phone suddenly vibrated against the table, making a buzzing noise.

“Yes?!” Kazuya huffed into the phone after he had grabbed it and answered the call with a frantic look on his face.

“All clear,” Jin announced on the other side of the phone with a cheerful voice. “The boy is unharmed and the kidnappers are cuffed there against the wall. I called back-up once I got here and Ueda’s on his way alongside an ambulance. The boy is in shock but otherwise he seems to be alright.”

“What? Why didn’t you wait until they had arrived before going in?!” Kazuya asked horrified, “You did it all by yourself?!”

“I wanted some action!” Jin defended himself. “Silence over there, I’m talking to my bf!” he then bellowed to the apparent kidnappers whose pained, whining voices Kazuya heard in the background of the call.

“You’re hopeless,” Kazuya sighed, “are you coming back here?”

“I’ll come to get you baby, don’t worry,” Jin purred in satisfaction.

“Good,” Kazuya answered warmly, before hanging up. “Yoji is okay,” Kazuya announced, smiling as both Nakamaru and Yamamoto took deep sighs of relief. “But it’s not really thanks to you,” Kazuya continued, turning to Yamamoto, “maybe you should consider if your career would’ve been worth sacrificing your son for.” Kazuya gave him one last stern look before he started to help Nakamaru to assemble their equipment.

-

Jin appeared half an hour later at the doorway of Yamamoto’s office to disturb the tense silence lingering between Kazuya, Yamamoto and Nakamaru who had now successfully packed away his computers. Jin had a huge nosebleed that he was holding back with a napkin but it didn’t keep him from smiling sunnily.

“Knock knock,” he said merrily and stepped in.

Kazuya just threw his head back in resignation at seeing Jin’s now even more hurt face. Nakamaru however shot out a quick “are you alright Akanishi?”

“Sure, I just miscalculated a little,” Jin answered and laughed. “I had already cuffed one of the kidnappers and was just about to stand up and take care of the other when he suddenly attacked me from behind. I dropped my gun so I had to kick his ass bare handed. Both of them, to be exact, since the other came for help and started kicking me. Tough guys, the cuffed one gave me a good headbutt.” Jin carelessly wiped his nose with the old napkin before tossing it out in the trashcan and delved out another from his pocket to settle to plug his nostrils. He gave Yamamoto a small artificial smile after noticing his terrified and dazzled look.

“The main thing is that Yoji is safe,” Kazuya said, before getting to his feet. “Should we go back now? I’m not sure I want to stay here any longer.”

“Sure I need to tell Pi about this!” Jin said happily without thinking. His smile dropped the moment the memories of the fight came rushing back to his memory. He sighed tiredly, trying to push his irritation aside, and turned to Yamamoto. “Your son was taken to the Takeshi hospital. I assume you know where it is since you so enthusiastically wanted Kazuya to meet the owner’s daughter. If you want to go see him, that is. Also, prepare yourself for a call from the station, we need to take a look at these corruption accusations.” Jin turned grimly and walked out.

“Be sure to give my regards to my father,” Kazuya said and left as well, closely followed by Nakamaru.

After the three had left, Yamamoto remained unmoving on the couch for a moment before taking out his cell phone. But instead of calling the hospital to check on his son, he searched another number from the contact list and called it determinedly.

“Kamenashi?” he started once he heard his old friend pick up the phone.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


	14. Blood Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A wave of murders washes over Tokyo. What happens when Jin, a strong-willed but simple police officer, and Kazuya, a clever but childish university student, begin to investigate the serial killings and entangle themselves into a net full of mystery, terror and lies?_
> 
> Originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" from December 6th 2011 to the 17th of September 2012 by myself and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** We don't own the characters, only the plot. This is not meant for commercial purposes. Please do not repost without permission.
> 
> This story was originally posted on the LJ community "Arctic_Akame" (now deactivated) from December 6th 2011 to September 17th 2012, by myself (a.k.a. Emi) and [CaptainDegenerate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDegenerate/) (a.k.a. Rika). I (Emi) am attempting to re-upload this story as rapidly as possible, but since it is quite long and I'm going to have to format a lot of text it's going to take a while. Please be patient with me 💜🙏 Here comes the fourteenth chapter!
> 
> **TRIGGER WARNING for end of chapter: BLOOD & GORE!**
> 
> You can find a pretty nifty character overview [**HERE**](https://nimlothemeli.livejournal.com/22832.html) if you want a visualization of how we imagined the characters as we wrote the story. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️
> 
> **Original Authors' Notes:** This story is a collaboration between Emi & Rika. While Emi is responsible for writing Kazuya’s parts, Rika is responsible for writing Jin. Dialogues between our heroes are written by both authors. We hope you enjoy it; this is a first for both of us.  
>  _May 13th, 2012_

.

**Chapter 14 - Blood Ties**

-

Jin hated documentaries. At least at that moment he couldn’t imagine anything more annoying than the documentary Kazuya was now watching with his eyes glued to the TV screen. Jin had given up on figuring out what it was about a long time ago. It was somehow related to the future of democracy and that alone convinced him that it wasn’t worth watching but for some reason Kazuya found it more interesting than he did his attention-craving boyfriend. The thought alone made Jin want to sulk.

Jin huffed in dissatisfaction as Kazuya ignored the way he nuzzled the boy’s ear. He sat back on the couch and murmured something grumpily to himself. On other channels there would’ve been Baywatch and Top Gear, programs he thought were much more interesting. Jin silently reminded himself that if this was to happen more often then he would buy another TV. When the boredom became unbearable and Jin noted that Kazuya was just as lost in the documentary as he was ten minutes ago, Jin decided to try one more time. He locked his arms around Kazuya, clinging to him tightly.

“I’m bored,” he whined and settled the big-eyed and pouty-lipped expression, the one he knew Kazuya was weak for, on his face in case Kazuya would detach his gaze from the documentary even for a second to look at him.

“Hmm?” Kazuya muttered in return, at last looking at Jin.

“This documentary sucks, let’s do something,” Jin said and mercilessly looked at Kazuya with his huge begging eyes.

“It’s just this one documentary Jin, it’s finished in... seventeen minutes. Can’t you wait until then?”

“Stupid documentary,” Jin grumbled and turned away from Kazuya to reach for his bag beside the couch. He took out his laptop and turned it on, impatiently drumming his fingers against the coffee table it was placed on as it started. After five minutes he was still waiting for all the applications to be ready. Jin groaned in frustration.

“Slow piece of junk,” he groaned and wobbled the mouse impatiently.

“Isn’t that a pretty new laptop?” Kazuya asked, shifting his gaze from the TV to Jin.

“I bought it like six months ago and it cost a small fortune but still it’s unbearably slow. Machines...” Jin murmured back.

“It shouldn’t be giving you trouble if it’s that new,” Kazuya stated and moved over to Jin, peeking at the screen, “what have you done to it?” he wondered.

“Nothing, I barely even use it,” Jin grumbled back. “It just keeps complaining how my hard disk drive is too full.”

Kazuya gave Jin a questioning look before moving the laptop so he could reach it, just to sigh a few moments later, “well, you’ve filled it with crap, no wonder it’s slow. And you haven’t updated a single program, including your virus protection, so it’s screaming for attention.”

“How could I know what that stupid machine requires me to do?” Jin murmured but smiled to himself, at least he now got Kazuya’s attention. He settled himself to sit behind Kazuya, his legs on each side of the boy’s. He circled his arms around Kazuya and placed his chin on his shoulder.

“Can you fix it?” Jin asked innocently and kissed Kazuya’s neck.

“It tells you what you should do Jin, look there, it’s basically easier to use than a coffee machine,” Kazuya scolded and kept his eyes fixed on the screen, “I guess I can fix it up for you, but it’ll have to be left switched on for I don’t know how long. There’s a lot of things that needs to get updated, and I think we should rinse out all those unnecessary files,” he continued and was already starting to initiate the updates that were most urgent.

“How long will you have to sit there then?” Jin asked, pouting a little at the way Kazuya didn’t give him any more attention than he did when he was watching the documentary.

“Hmm... after I’ve initiated it I could probably just check on it once in a while.”

Jin kissed his way up to Kazuya’s cheek and nudged his head against the boy’s like a cat begging for attention. “I want kisses,” he whined and tried to distract Kazuya by placing his lips but below the boy’s jaw.

“Kisses?” Kazuya asked teasingly and kept his attention focused on the laptop.

“Yeah, kisses,” Jin confirmed and started to move his mouth down on Kazuya’s neck again. “Stupid sucky documentaries and my laptop are more interesting than me,” he pouted before biting softly on Kazuya’s skin.

“So my only interests should be you?” Kazuya asked, finishing one last thing on the laptop before he turned away from it, “that’s unfair.”

“Why is it unfair? I’m your handsome cuddly boyfriend, getting kisses is only fair,” Jin answered accusingly, his lips never leaving Kazuya’s neck.

“But not ALL the time,” Kazuya answered and turned around so they were looking into each other’s eyes, “it’s okay now though, the documentary has finished anyway” he added and smiled.

“Kisses,” Jin insisted stubbornly with a child-like frown as he raised his head from Kazuya’s neck.

“Okay, okay,” Kazuya muttered and moved so he could sit in Jin’s lap as he softly kissed Jin on his lips, humming happily as he did.

Jin smiled contently against Kazuya’s lips. “I hope I’ll never get tired of this,” he chuckled as they separated. He tossed his arms around the other’s hips to bring him closer and hug him tightly.

“It’d be a stupid thing to get tired of,” Kazuya retorted.

“I doubt I ever will, everytime I kiss you I feel like it’s that very first kiss we ever shared. And with that I mean when you actually wanted to kiss.” Jin laughed and pressed his forehead against Kazuya’s.

“You said you didn’t remember that night anyway,” Kazuya answered while putting his arms around Jin’s neck.

“Well, if you didn’t enjoy it, then I didn’t like it either,” Jin said firmly. “How did I do it anyway? Did I just come and shove my tongue down your throat out of nowhere?” he couldn’t fight the urge to ask.

“Now that you ask... I think you said something about not hating me even if I hated you,” Kazuya explained, “you held a little speech, a drunken speech though.”

“What about?” Jin asked, a little nervous.

“About how I treated you like my dog I think, it’s really weird discussing this with you since you can’t remember it, I have no idea what went through your head,” Kazuya answered.

“Oh, that,” Jin said more to himself and blushed, hoping Kazuya wouldn’t ask about his sober thoughts at that time.

Kazuya looked at him a bit curiously before letting out a deep breath, “anyway, kisses?” he teased.

“Gimme gimme!” Jin said with sparkling eyes and attacked Kazuya, kissing him everywhere he could reach.

“I’m at awe over how you could’ve become so attention seeking,” Kazuya retorted before sneaking his arms around Jin’s back instead, catching Jin’s lips with his.

“That’s because I adore you,” Jin said innocently when they parted and sought Kazuya’s hand to hold with his.

“You know, that makes me really happy,” Kazuya whispered back.

-

They were once again back on square one, the killer had done absolutely nothing lately. No new victims or messages, he hadn’t even e-mailed Kazuya. A fact Jin was quite thankful for. They hadn’t booked another interview until the next day so they had spent the day pretty much going through the case report for the nth time, looking for the slightest hint from the background files, autopsy reports and so forth - finding nothing. Jin could see how tense Kazuya was and how frustrated it made the boy that they had been at a stand still for so long.

Jin himself was feeling very alerted. Maybe the killer was up to something bigger, something that took time to plan out. Or maybe he already had his next victim captured, someone of the countless people reported missing. But since the killer had shown no particular type of people he liked to murder, they had nothing to start off with. They had gone through the list of people reported missing as well, but nothing had either his or Kazuya’s antennas twitching.

Jin sighed and glanced at Kazuya, who was furiously typing something on his laptop, frowning in visible irritation. Jin was just about to ask if Kazuya wanted something from the caféteria when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He picked it up and groaned. He didn’t recognize the number. He picked up the phone, ready to tell that he wasn’t interested in buying whatever the other person was selling.

“Akanishi Jin,” he answered in annoyance. The person on the other side, however, quickly changed his expression of irritation into that of a shock.

“Hello Akanishi, this is Kamenashi, Kazuya’s father,” the caller said. Even though his words signalled politeness, his tone of voice signalled something completely different. “I’m calling since there’s something we should discuss.”

“U-understood,” Jin stuttered. “Do you wish me to visit you?” Jin glanced worriedly at Kazuya, who was too caught up with his laptop to give much attention to what Jin was saying.

“I demand that you do,” Mr. Kamenashi answered instantly.

“When?” Jin asked, trying to sound as polite as possible even though in reality he felt alarmed and even scared. Even though he felt distaste for big men like Kazuya’s father, it didn’t undo the fact they still had power and influence. Plus, he was Kazuya’s father, a man who's good side he wanted to get to. Without this man, there wouldn’t be Kazuya.

“Right now, my driver should be waiting for you outside the police station,” Jin was informed, “and Akanishi, this is between you and me. You are under no circumstances allowed to tell my son about this, understood?”

“Yes,” Jin said with as bland a voice he could manage and hung up. He bit his lower lip and looked at Kazuya. He needed to come up with a lie so he could flee. Of course Kazuya would later find out he had been deceived but it was another problem he needed to solve then.

“It was Koyuki, she wants to talk to me,” Jin said quickly to the boy who was still typing on his computer, hoping that Kazuya wouldn’t see through him.

Kazuya just shot him a quick look over his black-rimmed glasses and grunted an “Uhuh” before returning his focus to the laptop, “I’ll go down to Nakamaru then,” he added as a side note.

Jin nodded and dashed out, beginning to run the moment he was out of his office. He hoped the boy wouldn’t step out to see that instead of taking a lift up, he ran down to the main entrance.

-

Jin noticed his hands were shaking with nervousness as he reached out to knock on the door that led to the office in which Kazuya’s father was waiting for him. He gulped silently and reminded himself how much he loved Kazuya and that for the boy, Jin would even dare to stand up against his father. He knocked firmly and after hearing the command to come in, opened the door and walked in, forcing himself to keep his head high.

“Mr. Kamenashi,” Jin said and bowed down in front of Kamenashi’s desk. The man didn’t look that old, maybe 50, but the work and stress had certainly left their marks on his face, making him look somehow tired. Jin instantly noted the similarity his boyfriend and Kamenashi senior shared. They both were naturally slim and had the same, curvy nose and pouty lips. And the way Kazuya’s father was observing him with a frown reminded him much of the way Kazuya looked at files when he was tired and there was no progress in the thing he was investigating.

“Take a seat,” Mr. Kamenashi commanded.

Jin nodded and sat down on the huge armchair that was placed in front of Kamenashi’s desk, apparently just for Jin. Jin looked at the older man in silence, waiting for him to open the conversation.

“It is not unheard of that honourable men seek company in the midst of his closest men, I can... understand that, at least parts of it. My son is quite charming when he decides to be so, and you, as a kind hearted man, perhaps felt drawn to that. But you see, Kazuya is not something to be tampered with, he has responsibilities and duties he has yet to take on,” Kamenashi started as he pressed his palms flat against each other, “have you given any thought to how your _relationship_ is affecting his future?” he continued with a tone of disgust in his voice that broke through his otherwise controlled appearance.

Jin successfully swallowed his wave of anger craving to come out in the form of words, and thought out carefully what to say.

“Kazuya’s future is not in my hands, it’s something he decides himself and I can’t, nor do I want to, make him do anything but what he wants with his life,” Jin answered seriously, making sure to sound polite.

“You would rather have him be a laughing stock than a man that could have a real chance at fulfilling his potential?” Mr. Kamenashi said and laughed, “how amiable of you.”

“As I said, _sir_ , I have no interest in deciding Kazuya’s future for him. I’ll stay by his side just as long as he wants me to and if he changes his mind, I’ll step aside,” Jin said through gritted teeth, trying his all not to erupt.

“Oh, he will change his mind, you can be sure of that Mr. Akanishi. You’re just his new experiment, just as he has moved on from all of his previous obsessions, and then he’ll realize that he can’t keep running forever from what we have groomed him to be. How would you feel about being tossed aside like his interest in baseball or insects? I dare say, as a grown man, the obvious choice would be to avoid that future... emotional trouble, and do as I demand you to do - leave my son.”

“How kind of you to care about my feelings,” Jin said and faked a smile. “But I thought we were here to talk about Kazuya’s future, not my possible future heartbreak. If you are sure that his interest in me will pass, then you should have nothing to worry about. And as for your demand, no.”

Kamenashi scoffed at Jin’s answer and leaned forward, placing his hands against the polished mahogany, “then I will make him leave _you_ ,” he said coldly, slowly retreating to his chair again. “You see, after the last time Kazuya rebelled against me I have taken precautions and my dear father hasn’t got as much power as he used to have. I am taking full control over my son’s life as of now and he can say goodbye to all the money I have been showering him with. If he wants something, he will have to ask me, and then it will be on my terms; without this disgraceful relationship,” Kamenashi spat out.

“That is between you and him, I have nothing to do with it. If you see your own social status and money to be more important than your son’s happiness and well-being, then that’s your way of being a father. I’m sure you are mentally prepared for being hated and despised by your own son for the rest of your life. But as I said, I’m Kazuya’s lover and I will be his lover just as long as he wants me to.” Jin gave Kamenashi the same look he always did to Ando when he stepped in between him and Koyuki. Distasteful, angry but cold and unfaltering.

“Well then, you won’t end it and he will therefore lose his money,” Mr. Kamenashi noted while getting up from his chair, “I hope you feel happy about the fact that this could bring Kazuya more grief than I have ever caused him. It would be wise of you to leave now, I have nothing more to say as you are clearly not worth my time.”

“Yes, I can see you think little of me because I don’t own billions and my occupation is a mere criminal detective. But with all respect, Mr. Kamenashi, if there is any way I can stop Kazuya from becoming a person like you, I would do it. I wonder if you feel even a tiny bit guilty because you think of yourself and your, dare I say, useless family pride before your son, a person you’re supposed to love and care for. Which you haven’t, or how else do you explain the fact that he rather lives in my tiny flat than in the same house with you? Have you ever seen your son laugh so hard he cries? Or cry because he’s so happy? Or have you ever heard him say he loves you? Because I have. That’s all I have to say.” Jin got up and bowed. “Excuse me,” he said coldly before walking to the door.

Kamenashi sighed deeply, leaning against the desk as he watched Jin walk towards the door, “she loves him with all her heart, and she has never once gotten a single emotion in return from him. That is not a son worth doting on.”

“Who does?” Jin asked and stopped without turning.

“My wife, his mother” Kamenashi answered, ”we are his family Akanishi, but can you blame us for never seeing those things you talk about when he has never wanted to show them to us? Even as a child?” The older man sounded just as cold as before, his words in stark contrast to his tone.

Even though the word ‘family’ hit him straight in his chest with an arrow of guilt, he didn’t let it show. He turned to face Kamenashi with a strong, stern expression. “I can’t talk about your wife since I have never met her, but listening to you talk about your son... Yes, I can blame you as a father for never seeing those sides of Kazuya.” This time Jin turned and walked out before Kamenashi could answer.

-

Jin lit his fourth cigarette and sat down, leaning his back against the chain-link fence surrounding the rooftop. As soon as Kamenashi's driver had dropped him off at the station, he had marched in and taken a lift up without giving a thought to the fact that Kazuya was probably somewhere at the station, mad with worry.

Family. He had thought about nothing but Kamenashi's words ever since he had stepped out of the man's office. About Kazuya's mother and how her husband had told how much she loved Kazuya. About parenthood, how much his own parents meant to him and even though he knew it wasn't his choice to make, he felt responsible for separating Kazuya from his mother and father.

Idling and letting his dark thoughts wander, he found himself rewinding back to his youth. He had seen what losing a parent could do to a person as well as he had seen what grief losing a child could bring to a parent.

His mind was filled with his memories, how he had seen that little girl's parents slowly wither away when they lost their daughter when Jin was nineteen. And he hadn't told Kazuya, but he had also seen a person he loved grieving greatly when suddenly being forced to live without her father.

Jin had been twenty one, not much younger than Kazuya was now, living his first and last serious relationship, until he met Kazuya that was.

Her name was Chiyo, she was a few years younger than Jin and they had dated for several months. Jin was crazy in love, they were happy. They really understood each other, to the extent it was possible. Of course after meeting Kazuya, what he had felt in that relationship felt like a mere part of what he had now. But at that time, Jin knew no better and was undeniably happy.

Until that evening. Jin still remembered it, the faint knock on the door, the way his loved one had collapsed into his arms the minute he had opened the door, the way there seemed to be no end to the sobs. Chiyo wasn't the crying type, but that night she cried and cried, never letting go of Jin, screaming her heart out for her father, who had died in a car accident.

Jin had felt lost and panicked. He had hated the way he couldn't do anything to ease the pain, the only thing he had been able to do was to sit there silently and hold the girl.

And after that, everything had changed. Everything in their relationship was shadowed by the loss Chiyo had suffered. When Jin had visited her house, he felt nothing but sorrow welling around the now broken home. Her mother and her siblings were the ghosts of the lovely people he had once known. Jin couldn't help but wonder, if he visited the Kamenashi house now, would he feel the same emptiness, the same endless regret and sadness?

And little by little, Chiyo had changed as well. She had always been strong, independent and determined to find her happy ending, no matter what she came across. But losing her father had crushed that will Jin had first fallen in love with. She had become someone Jin no longer knew and in the end that drove them apart. Jin had wanted to stay, to help her, but she had decided she no longer could see Jin, that she no longer could face the happiness Jin had with his family, the happiness that had now been denied from her.

Jin remembered how he had feared the next months, panicked when he couldn't reach his family, how he had denied his sister from leaving home during the evenings.

And now Jin was forced into the position that drove Kazuya apart from his family for good. He was the last straw Kazuya's father couldn't let go unnoticed. And no matter what angle of view he took, he saw no right for himself to step in between Kazuya and his parents. Kazuya was young, inexperienced and rebellious, it was just as Kamenashi had said, Kazuya had seen too little and didn't know enough about his potential and opportunities to decide whether Jin was what he wanted in his life. It was the only way Kazuya saw now, but times could change after he grew up a little. But still, Jin thought and tossed away the spent cigarette he had been sucking on for some time without noticing. But still, Jin was too selfish and too in love to give in to Kamenashi's demands like that. He needed to think.

Jin got up and walked off the roof expressionlessly to take a lift down to his office to tell Kazuya he was alright, hopefully before the boy had alarmed the whole station to look for him. He couldn't shrug off the sorrow of a mother without a child he had seen with his own two eyes all those years ago, neither the sorrow of a child who lost her father. Jin felt torn apart.

”What should I do?” he whispered to himself as he stepped into the elevator and leaned his forehead against the cold steel doors shutting in front of him.

-

As far as he knew, Jin could be at the bottom of Tokyo bay by now or happily chatting away with Koyuki in a café. Kazuya muttered a little as he settled in Jin’s office after his trip down to Nakamaru in the lab. Well, happily chatting away with Koyuki in a café was out of the question since Kazuya had seen her at her desk a few moments ago. What on earth would make Jin rush off like that? He was worried, but it wasn’t like that last time Jin had gone missing and his whole world had seemed to collapse in front of his eyes, this was more like a situation where Jin was hiding something. He just wished that Jin had told him, not lied.

A change in scenery had been welcome, and talking with Nakamaru down in the labs had managed to keep Kazuya’s mind off Jin, but as the hours had passed he couldn’t no more. So here he was, back in Jin’s office, back in the worn out couch with a file he had read a hundred times by now. Spilled guts on the pavement and dirty brick stones in the background. Photos he had flipped through almost once a day.

After a few more agonizingly slow minutes the door was opened and Jin paced in, looking worried and troubled. He sat down at his desk without a word and took a random file to open and go through, not even looking like he intended to explain his absence.

“Where were you?” Kazuya finally asked after a few minutes, his patience running out.

“With Koyuki,” Jin answered mechanically, his defeated eyes glued to one spot of the paper he was holding, revealing that he wasn’t actually reading it.

“I-” Kazuya started but instead he sighed and put his file down, leaning back on the couch and kicking his boots off so he could put his legs up on it as well. He was going to tell Jin that he knew he was lying, but he figured that it wouldn’t really make any difference. Whatever Jin was holding back would probably come bursting out when the other felt ready, that’s how it had worked before. “Never mind, I’m going to take a nap...” he said instead, settling on his side as he pulled his knees towards his chest. He wasn’t going to worry, he told himself.

If normally Jin would’ve jumped on Kazuya, seeing him curled up cutely like that, at that moment Jin barely noticed it. The moment Kazuya closed his eyes Jin dropped the paper he had artificially been reading and stared at the wooden surface of the desk, deep in thought.

Jin still had no idea what to do.

-

Jin felt just as lost as he had all those hours ago when he had left Kamenashi’s office. His eyes were on the TV, watching some brainless variety show to avoid looking at Kazuya, who was sitting beside him in a manner just as unmoving as Jin was.

Jin felt like he was battling between his own selfishness and Kamenashi’s selfishness. If he let go now, nothing would guarantee Kazuya would learn how to open up to his parents and answer that love his mother had for him. Or that his father would love him like a son. And then again, with Jin in the way he would never even have the opportunity to do so. He didn’t want to make the mistake of deciding what was best for Kazuya on his behalf again, but what if years later Kazuya would hate him for not doing so when the boy had lost his opportunity to inherit the Kamenashi family properties and choose to follow his father.

Jin sighed involuntarily, making Kazuya move his gaze from the program to his blue face.

“Hey,” Kazuya said softly and curled up against Jin on the couch, “you look tired, want to go to bed?”

Jin gulped as he felt Kazuya’s body against his and sprang up, out of his grip. “Yeah,” he said, avoiding the boy’s eyes. For the first time ever since they started dating he didn’t feel like being close to Kazuya. He just wanted to be alone and think.

“Let’s go then, there’s nothing much to watch on the TV anyway,” Kazuya answered and turned it off by its remote control.

Jin walked to the bedroom without waiting for Kazuya and hastily took off his clothes before collapsing on the mattress with a huff.

Crawling onto the bed a few minutes later, after brushing his teeth and getting out of his clothes, Kazuya lied down beside Jin and watched Jin’s face in silence. He seemed so distant and troubled, something Kazuya didn’t enjoy at all. Kazuya felt a sudden urge to show Jin that he was there for him, he thought it was the only appropriate way to behave in a situation like this, so he leaned in close so their breaths mixed.

“Do you want a goodnight kiss?” Kazuya whispered.

Jin locked his eyes with Kazuya for a minute before dodging the other’s gaze by shifting his eyes away.

“Not tonight,” he said silently and turned so that his back was towards Kazuya.

“Oh...” Kazuya uttered and defeatedly rolled over on his back. He hoped it wouldn’t take Jin too long to spill the beans. Kazuya curled up like he had done in Jin’s office and hugged himself, instead of sleeping pressed against Jin as he had for quite a while now. Sleep wouldn’t come easy tonight.

The sound of the clock ticking and Kazuya’s light breathing sounded ten times louder as Jin lay motionlessly and tried to think. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t come up with a solution. The things Kazuya’s father had said, Chiyo and the murdered girl all summed up into a big, terrifying bunch in his mind as he circled all the ways out of the situation in his head over and over again.

He couldn’t let things be as they were now, he didn’t want to take the risk of being the thing that ruined Kazuya’s life and tore his family apart. But just leaving the boy like last time seemed like an option just as idiotic. Jin wondered if the boy had even seriously thought over what abandoning his family would mean, not only now but years into the future. Why hadn’t Kazuya been able to open up to his mother if she loved him like Kamenashi had said? When was the last time the boy had met his parents and talked to them, when was the last time they had shared a meal together?

Maybe, Jin wondered, maybe if they lived together for some time again they would find the lost spirit of their family, the feeling of belonging together. Jin of course couldn’t force the boy into doing that, but maybe he could try to persuade Kazuya. It was the best solution he could come up at that moment, and he decided to give it a go.

“Kazuya?” Jin asked silently, not daring to roll over to face his lover just yet.

“Yes?” Kazuya answered with his voice muffled against a pillow.

“Maybe... Maybe we should take a little break so you could go back to your parents and try to patch things up with them,” Jin said after a long moment of gathering courage and forcing his tongue to obey, for it felt like it was twisted in his mouth, that was how much suggesting that hurt him.

“My parents?” Kazuya instantly sat up in the bed and stared at Jin, feeling utterly confused.

“Yeah,” Jin said and finally turned to face Kazuya, his eyes sad and defeated.

“I’m not sure I follow you here, you want to break up with me so I can go live with the people I really don’t want to live with?” Kazuya asked, looking completely dumbfounded.

“I just think you should give them one last chance. They miss you,” Jin slipped out and bit his tongue. Kazuya’s father had made absolutely clear he wasn’t allowed to tell Kazuya about their meeting. “Or I would imagine so,” he tried to cover up.

Finally realizing what this was about, Kazuya sighed and didn’t know if he should feel sick to his stomach or relieved. “I assume you’ve talked to my father... what did he offer you? A career boost or was it just the simple fact he would make life a living hell for me if you didn’t step away?” Kazuya asked, deciding that he was feeling mostly sad.

“No, he didn’t offer me anything. He just... pointed out what kind of opportunities I’m taking away from you. Kazuya, you’re young, you don’t have to decide your future now and I think... It would be better not to close any doors because of one person and step away from your family that loves you,” Jin said and sat up to lean against the headboard of his bed.

“But my father doesn’t love me Jin, he’s like me, just worse, and my mother... Do you think she’d want me to be unhappy? Because I would be, all over again, if I would get roped in by my father again.” Kazuya moved so he could look at Jin as he talked and continued, “and yes, I’m young, but I really don’t want anything to do with that business. Even my grandfather has accepted it and he should be the one that’s the most urgent about me taking over the company.”

“I’m not saying you should take over the company, I just don’t want you to cut ties to your parents like that. Maybe, if you sat down and talked, you could understand each other. But if you’re with me, your father won’t consider you as his son anymore. You’ve got parents and at least your mother cares for you, don’t disregard that because of me.”

“I don’t know what else to tell you, you seem to have already made up your mind,” Kazuya almost whispered after sitting still and looking at Jin. “I’m ashamed of my father for using my mother as a tool to convince you that I’m better off with him. I don’t think she would like that. She’s been visiting me in my dorm room now and then, or calling me, and she always seemed glad that I at least was managing on my own.”

“I just... are you sure you want to choose me over your family? I don’t think I would be able to bear the guilt if you regret years later and won’t be able to return to your parents,” Jin said and pressed his forehead against his knees that were curled up against his chest.

Kazuya gathered courage and crawled even closer to Jin so he could lean against the other, breathing in Jin’s special scent he loved so much. “If living with my parents means that I would have to do it on my father’s terms, then I don’t ever want to. If he really cared about me he wouldn’t have played this mind game with you and I can talk to my mother whenever I feel like... please don’t shut me out, don’t you understand how pointless it would be if I had to leave you behind?” Kazuya begged.

“Kazuya, I’ve seen a loved one withering away because she was forced to live without her father, I just don’t want the same fate to you,” Jin said as he raised his head. “I just want you to be happy because I love you.”

“And I love you. My dad has had his chance, I don’t want to waste time on him anymore,” Kazuya said with determination, “now, do you want to tell me about that girl?” he added and reached out for Jin’s hand.

“I was about your age and before you came in, it was the most serious relationship I ever had. Her father passed away in a car crash and no matter how much I tried, the grief made her slip away from my grasp to the point she couldn’t even look at me anymore. I don’t want to go through it again and I don’t want anyone to feel the pain she did, the least you,” Jin explained silently and played with Kazuya’s hand.

“Well, that makes sense,” Kazuya answered, “but I’m not that girl, the only person I would crumble after losing would be you.”

Jin launched forward after hearing Kazuya’s words and caught the boy’s lips desperately. “I’m sorry. I just...” Jin started as he detached from the kiss. “I’m always afraid you’ll slip away from me, whether it’s by the killer or your parents or something else. I’d rather let go than little by little get driven away from you until one day I notice I don’t know you anymore. You know I’m possessive. I want every last bit of you. I want everything, or nothing at all.”

“An ultimatum huh?” Kazuya asked, “well then I’ll be completely yours, but only if you’ll be mine.”

“I’m yours,” Jin whispered right away and hungrily claimed Kazuya’s lips again, unfolding his legs to tug on Kazuya’s arm, signaling he wished the boy to sit on his lap.

Gladly doing as he was told, Kazuya ended up in Jin’s arms, one hand in Jin’s hair and the other cupping Jin’s cheek. He wished he wouldn’t have to have a conversation like this again, where he felt like he was going to lose the person he loves the most.

“I love you so much,” Jin almost sobbed, feeling like he could never repeat the phrase enough to tell just how much. Jin tossed his arms to circle Kazuya’s waist and to bring him as close as possible, his lips now starting to devour Kazuya’s once again.

“You had me really scared there for a moment,” Kazuya mumbled against Jin’s hungry lips, “how would I survive without my clingy, cuddly, protective and perfectly amazing boyfriend?”

“How would I survive without my bratty, smartass but cute and sensitive boyfriend?” Jin asked in return. “Well, I wouldn’t, I’d go crazy with grief,” he confessed silently and pressed Kazuya against himself desperately, trying to get even closer when there wasn’t even an inch left between their bodies.

“I’m considering calling you stupid, but I know you did it with good intentions so I won’t. Just know that if you one day you kick me out I’ll probably stand outside your door and cry for weeks, begging you to take me back. If you’d shipped me off to my parents I’d be back here in a day.”

“I would never kick you out, I won’t abandon you unless you want me to go,” Jin answered, slightly out of breath after the intense kiss.

Kazuya smiled and gently caressed Jin’s face with his fingers, tracing his strong cheekbones, plump lips and strong jaw. “Good, and next time my father tries to control me again, don’t listen to him okay? There’s a reason why I haven’t lived with him for years.”

“Okay,” Jin promised and smiled shyly. “Can I get the kiss you offered after all?” he asked timidly and opened his eyes wide in the puppy-eyed way he had used more and more after meeting Kazuya.

“No, but you can get another one,” Kazuya teased and crushed their mouths together once more, brushing his tongue against Jin’s lips. He didn’t want to give the other any chance to back off now.

Jin moaned and as he found no reason to retreat whatsoever, opened his lips to let Kazuya’s tongue wander in. His hands slid up and down along the curve of Kazuya’s waist, stopping to massage the hip bones every now and then.

Suddenly, without any warning, Kazuya drew back and covered his face with his hands, cursing wildly as he did. He had forgotten all about it after he had moved the killer’s message from one folder to another, but now, when he had relaxed, the memory of it resurfaced.

“I’ve done something stupid too,” he confessed and looked at Jin from under his bangs.

Jin looked at Kazuya questioningly and reached out to pat him on his head. “It’s okay. What is it about?”

“I got another message from the killer,” Kazuya mumbled, already anticipating a huge reaction from Jin.

The other stiffened noticeably. “What did it say?” Jin asked insecurely and drew his hand back.

“He wanted me to leave you and in return he’d let you live. It was just ridiculous, but I was afraid that you’d... take it the wrong way. So I tried to think of a way to handle it and then I kinda forgot about it,” Kazuya said looking regretful.

Jin put his palm on Kazuya’s neck and slid it upwards until it reached Kazuya’s chin to lift it up, making the boy face him. “You’re not even considering it, right?” Jin asked firmly.

“No,” Kazuya hurried to say, “it’s out of the question. I’m not letting anyone boss me around like that.”

“Then we can just forget all about it,” Jin said and smiled softly. “But Kazuya,” he continued with a stern look. “You need to tell me about these things. I’m not gonna freak every time this happens, you don’t have to be afraid of that,” Jin scolded gently.

“Okay,” Kazuya answered silently, “it was a pretty stupid thing to do.”

“Silly,” Jin smiled and caressed Kazuya’s cheek. “As long as you don’t let him get between us, I won’t let those messages affect me any longer. It’s exactly what he wants, to make us feel insecure and grow apart. We must not give him that satisfaction.”

Kazuya nodded and smiled, “And I’ll go talk with my father tomorrow, I’ll finish my business with him so he won’t bother you anymore. I’m really irritated at him for doing that to you, I mean, I’m used to him, but you had no idea how cunning he is.”

“If you do that, he might cut your finances. Or at least he said something like that. And I think I made him super angry. I’m sorry, I couldn’t sit back and take it without lashing something in return,” Jin confessed timidly and looked at Kazuya apologetically.

“You did?” Kazuya asked with a grin, “I’m proud of you. And I don’t need his money, I’ve got this,” he added and tapped against his own temple with a finger.

“Don’t worry about money. If you can’t support yourself, we can manage with my salary. I think Matsumoto will start to give you some money for all your work if you just ask him. But either way, get used to living without your designer jeans and Calvin Klein aftershaves,” Jin teased.

“I’m not that shallow,” Kazuya retorted and looked somewhat offended.

“I’m just teasing you, love,” Jin said and chuckled softly before diving his hands to Kazuya’s hair. “But whether you need the money or not, the fact that you’re giving it up for me makes me feel very special.” Jin kissed Kazuya’s forehead lovingly.

“When you say it like that it sounds terribly cheesy,” Kazuya mumbled and leaned forward so he could bury his face in the crook of Jin’s neck, “If we go broke we’ll have to move in with Ueda,” he added and chuckled a little at the thought. “Can you imagine waking up to Ryo staring at you after he’s thrown a pillow at you, barking about breakfast? It’s horrible.”

“I will absolutely not move in with them, the few nights I’ve spent there were enough. We would go live with my folks. They’re always waiting for the day I come home crying after I’ve fucked everything up. I still have my room there untouched with all the video games and comics you know. ”

“They haven’t touched it? But that’s so... illogical. They really expect you to move back home?” Kazuya wondered.

“No, it’s more like they’re saying that if anything ever happens, I’m always welcome to come back home,” Jin answered and tilted his head, chuckling at Kazuya’s confused look.

Kazuya pondered for a moment before he spoke again. “Ah, like a safety net?”

“You could call it that,” Jin said and smiled. “And whether you like it or not, you’re part of our weird dysfunctional cry-baby family now. Or at least from the moment I introduce you to my family.”

“Thanks,” Kazuya answered smiling happily,”but don’t forget that people usually don’t like me, even if you’ve gotten used to me.”

“No, I think you don’t get how lovable you actually are,” Jin said amusedly. “They’ll like you. Just prepare yourself for the cupcakes and woollen socks mum will foist to you.”

“You’re scaring me... what are you planning Jin?” Kazuya asked giving the other a suspicious look.

“Just a little visit,” Jin answered innocently. “It’s only polite to go greet my parents. Or am I wrong? You’re the etiquette master here.”

Kazuya groaned in resignation and flopped down on the bed beside Jin, “I’ll need a year’s mental preparation... and even then it’d be a disaster.”

“Just be yourself. My folks are laid-back and my sister started asking me when I would finally get myself a boyfriend before I turned 20,” Jin laughed.

“A boyfriend? Has everyone been joking about you being gay?” Kazuya teased, looking a bit happier again.

“Well, Nanami at least has. Or I don’t know if she was serious. Her sarcasm is so sneaky it’s impossible to tell,” Jin mused.

Kazuya settled on his side and grinned evilly, “at least one of you ended up smart.”

“She is the successful one in our family,” Jin admitted. “A physics student. My parents always mock her for carrying around her big heavy books. But don’t let the smart appearance fool you, she’s a big teenager inside.” Despite the things he said Jin looked very warm and caring when talking about his younger sister.

“Jin... I hope this, you and me I mean, won’t cause you any trouble with your family. Joking about it is one thing, but you have to consider that they’re probably waiting for you to bring a nice girl home so they can get some grandchildren.”

“As long as I’m happy, they’ll accept it,” Jin said without a second thought, like it was to be taken for granted.

“Okay, if you say so,” Kazuya answered and yawned, stretching his arms as legs before curling up on his side again.

Jin laid down and opened his arms. “Hey, come here so I can cling to you,” he said and pouted.

“Demands upon demands,” Kazuya mumbled with feigned annoyance, moving over to Jin as he had been told.

“Oh, on grumpy old man-mode again?” Jin asked in amusement and kissed Kazuya all around his face teasingly.

Kazuya just closed his eyes and smiled, not bothering to keep the act up. This was his favorite part about going to bed, getting wrapped up in the warm feeling of safety Jin spread around himself.

“Good night, love,” Jin whispered gently and circled his arms around Kazuya to cage him against Jin’s chest.

“Good night,” Kazuya answered with a gentle sigh.

-

Jin yawned and stretched his back against the seat. It had been a good five minutes since Kazuya had disappeared into the enormous mansion the Kamenashis lived in. Jin had parked his car near the front door and was now looking for a way to consume time while waiting for his lover.

The yard was no less fancy, the amount of different flowers made Jin dizzy, but what amazed him the most was how quiet it was. Jin saw absolutely no one passing past the huge windows of the house, and the garden was no more crowded either. The atmosphere was so cold that the second they had passed through the gates and entered the Kamenashi property, Jin understood a little better why Kazuya didn’t want to live there.

Just about to turn on the radio and delve out his cigarettes, Jin saw movement in the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he watched how a woman walked silently to his sight from the backyard. The moment she was close enough and Jin saw the familiar cheekbones and rather narrow eyes, he had no second guess about the lady’s identity. She was, without a doubt, Kazuya’s mother.

The woman stilled in front of one of the bushes of daylilies, the kind Jin had bought for Kazuya himself, and observed them quietly, looking almost sad. Jin nervously brushed some stubborn locks of his hair out of his face and pondered what to do.

Deciding that it would be only polite to go and greet Kazuya’s mother, Jin got out of the car and paced to the woman, halting when he was no farther than a yard away from her.

“Mrs. Kamenashi?” Jin asked carefully, wondering if she knew who he was.

Brushing her hair out of her eyes, the woman silently looked at Jin for a few moments, almost measuring him.

“Yes, and who might you be?”

“I’m Akanishi Jin, Kazuya’s...” Jin started but held the last words. Had Kamenashi told his wife about him? Feeling nervous, Jin took a breath and completed. “Kazuya’s boyfriend.” Jin bowed down.

“Oh, you’re the one my husband has been raving about since yesterday,” she answered and looked around in the garden, “Is Kazuya here too?”

“Yes, he... he’s discussing things with your husband,” Jin said, not sure what was going on in the woman’s head. Was she mad at Jin for angering her husband, let alone for ‘tampering’ with Kazuya as Kamenashi had put it?

“I hope he comes looking for me, I haven’t had time to visit him in a while and he’s always busy when I call him, sometimes I have to check in with Ooshima just to be sure that he’s still in the country,” she complained and leaned down to tug at some weeds that were starting to grow in the edge of a flower bed. “He’s my only child and he’s even worse at noticing me than my husband.”

Jin looked compassionately at the woman and finally got to put his fingers on the atmosphere around her; it was loneliness. “I’m sure he will,” Jin said silently. “You’re welcome to visit my home anytime you like, it’s where Kazuya practically lives now anyway,” he added, not knowing what kind of reaction he was going to get.

“Ah, I will make sure to get the address from Kazuya then, if you approve of it,” she said, looking a bit happier already. “You know, when my husband told me that Kazuya was having a relationship with someone, and a man at that, I couldn’t help but to feel confused. He’s never really shown much emotion at all, just determination and anger. We’ve been reassured that he’s alright, but I never really thought he’d open up to anyone. How did you...” she stopped, searching for a word that was evading her, “I mean, what changed him?”

“I don’t know,” Jin said, looking troubled. “I’m sure you have given him more of your time and patience than I ever could. I’m sorry I can’t answer you. Maybe there’s no way I can earn your trust after what your husband has probably told you about me, but- but I assure you, I love Kazuya and I will take care of him. ”

“It’s alright, Kazuya can handle things by himself, so I rarely worry. If you were a bad person he would’ve scared you off long ago,” she reassured Jin and motioned for him to walk with her. “Let’s take a stroll, I’m more likely to meet him if I’m with you, right?” she added with a smile.

“Well, he won’t get a lift back if he leaves on his own,” Jin confirmed with a small grin and accompanied Kazuya’s mother on her walk.

-

“Feeling happy with yourself?” Kazuya asked as soon as he had entered his father’s office, closing the door behind him.

“Kazuya, I was wondering when you’d come to see me, sit,” the older man beckoned, smiling as he did.

It was early in the day but even though the sun was strong, the office was as dull and shady as usual, protected by heavy drapes in the windows. Kazuya could move in and out of this room with closed eyes, he knew all of the rooms in his father’s house that well, yet it still felt odd to be here again. It felt especially odd because of all the things that had happened the last few weeks, or months. He wasn’t the same boy that had left as he was now when he came back.

“I prefer to stand,” he answered and walked up to his father’s big desk, “I’m just here to say a few things and I’ll be off again, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” his father answered and leaned back in his chair.

“Well, you harassed my boyfriend yesterday and I don’t really appreciate that,” Kazuya retorted, “and even less after I thought we were on the same page here. You stay out of my life and I stay out of yours.”

Kamenashi cleared his throat, but kept quiet, not letting Kazuya’s words get to him.

“Because that’s one of the reasons, apart from my grandfather forbidding you to meddle with my choices, to why you haven’t really done anything yet, right?” Kazuya asked and continued right away, not waiting for an answer. “I know who you make business with, you loyal allies, the ones that are afraid of you and I know who are just humoring you. I know all the small secrets. If you make an enemy out of me, I might just use all that knowledge against you.”

“Ehrm... well, that just proves that you really are interested in it, if you’ve remembered all those things,” his father answered, still not looking beaten.

“For the love of... can’t you just give up? I don’t want to take over the business, I want to live my life the way I chose to and I want you to never speak to Jin again, otherwise I’ll might just realize the threat I just made.”

Kazuya started walking towards the door, signalling that the conversation was over, “And you can keep your money, I’m moving in with Jin anyway plus I’ve got a job.”

“You’ll be back soon enough,” Kamenashi grumbled back.

Shaking his head at his father’s response, Kazuya exited the room after saying one last thing; “Highly unlikely.”

And just like that he had severed the last tie he had with his father, no money and no obligations. He felt like whistling as he exited the building, but stopped himself when he saw that Jin’s car was empty. Doubting that the killer had troubled himself to follow them here, Kazuya set course towards the garden, only seconds later spotting Jin walking up a pathway with a familiar figure at his side.

“You could make a career out of charming all the women around you,” Kazuya joked at Jin’s expense as the mismatched pair, a respectable lady and a scruffy looking cop, reached him.

“I think you should get worried if I manage to charm even your mother,” Jin teased. “This garden is just lovely!” he then continued and looked around in amazement.

Ignoring Jin’s remark, Kazuya gave his mother a quick hug, as she always made him do when he came back home. “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to steal Jin aways from you, he might never want to leave otherwise.”

“Are we in hurry? Is your dad after you with his guards?” Jin asked with raised eyebrows.

“No... it’s just, I think I made him a bit angry too,” Kazuya confessed and shot a quick glance up towards the windows he knew opened up to his father’s office.

“It’ll be alright Kazuya, he will calm down soon enough,” his mother reassured him with a smile, “you know, he’s not a evil villain in a movie, he’s just your father.”

“I know,” Kazuya sighed back.

“Well, let’s go then,” Jin said and turned to Kazuya’s mother. “It’s been wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Kamenashi. Feel free to drop by anytime you like,” Jin said and bowed. He then walked to Kazuya and kissed him on his temple.

“Right, I won’t be staying at the dorms,” Kazuya reminded himself and took Jin’s hand. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said to his mother and gave her a quick wave as they walked away.

“Nice lady,” Jin said to Kazuya as they were walking towards his car.

“Yes, she’s okay I guess, I’ve inherited my lack in length from her, but other than that I have no reason to dislike her,” Kazuya answered and leaned against Jin with a chuckle.

“Mmh, you got your cuteness from her,” Jin answered playfully and squeezed Kazuya’s hand in his.

The boy laughed a bit and poked Jin in his side, “I’m a grumpy old man too, remember?”

“But you’re cute even then,” Jin said and opened the door to the passenger seat for Kazuya. “On you hop, Prom Queen.”

“I don’t even think our school had a prom,” Kazuya shot back before getting in the car.

“Hopefully you’re hungry, we’re not going back to my flat,” Jin announced lightly as he got on the driver’s seat and started the engine of his car.

-

When they arrived at a peaceful looking residential area, Kazuya had quite a good guess at where they were going. Jin was happily drumming away at the steering wheel in time with the music, that too gave him away. After they’d passed a few streets, Jin stopped at the side of the road in front of a small house and got out the car so Kazuya couldn’t do much else than to follow him up to the front door.

Jin rang the doorbell and after a few seconds of waiting lost his patience and started to bang his fist against the wood in annoyance. When the door was opened, they were faced by a chubby, jolly woman who wrapped his arms around Jin’s neck the moment she recognized him.

“Jin, sweety!” she exclaimed and kissed his cheeks and forehead fervently. “What a coincidence, Nanami came to see us today as well!”

“Mum it’s not a coincidence, she comes every Sunday,” Jin said and rolled his eyes but reached his arms around his mother to pat her on her shoulder.

Only after detaching from Jin did the woman notice Kazuya, who was standing behind Jin. “Why didn’t you tell me you would bring a guest!” she scolded her son with wide eyes. “The house is a mess and I merely thought of making lasagna today, if I knew I would’ve-”

“This is Kazuya, you’ll love him,” Jin interrupted his mother without a thought and shoved his boyfriend in front of the woman.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” Kazuya hurried to say and bowed, “I’m Kamenashi Kazuya, nice you meet you Mrs. Akanishi.”

“What a well-mannered young man!” Jin’s mom said delightedly. “Call me just Keiko, Kazu-chan,” she said cheerfully, picking up a nickname for Kazuya just like that. She impatiently waved her hand to shoo the two in. “Rintarou, guests!” Keiko enthusiastically led Kazuya to a man sitting in an armchair, comfortably reading a tabloid in the living room. Jin followed behind with a faint smile, wondering how long it would take for Kazuya to get used to his family.

“Oh?” The man said and peeked at Kazuya from behind his paper. “Who are you?” he asked, somehow managing to make the otherwise rude question sound like a kind conversation-opener.

“I’m Kamenashi Kazuya, sir,” the boy hurried to explain once more and bowed like he had a moment before. Kazuya reminded himself to tell Jin a thing or two about throwing him into situations like these.

“See, isn’t Kazu-chan such a pleasant young man?!” Jin’s mother meddled in, looking like she had already become fond of the boy.

“Please make yourself at home. And no need to call me sir, feel free to use my first name,” Rintarou said and nodded before going back to his tabloid with a gentle, scatterbrained noise.

“How do you know each other? Colleagues?” Keiko asked, the gossip-queen in her coming out right before Kazuya’s eyes as he could see the woman was dying to know all the details.

“Yeah, about that...” Jin said lightly, meddling in. He had been observing the situation from afar, leaning on a bookshelf and mentally giggling at how terrified Kazuya was. Jin walked to Kazuya and Keiko. “Actually, we’re going out,” Jin announced with a wide grin. “Right, hun?” he asked Kazuya innocently.

“Eh...” Kazuya started and looked anxiously back and forth between Jin’s mother and father, hoping nothing bad would happen now that Jin had blurted it out in a really insensitive way. “Yes we are,” he finally answered Jin's question and bowed again. 

“Goodness gracious me!” Jin’s mother exclaimed and smacked Jin in the head. “Then it’s YOU I can blame for him being so skinny. Do you eat all the food yourself and leave him nothing?” she squawked and shook her head before disappearing to the kitchen.

Jin’s father, however, had dropped his tabloid and was now looking at Jin with unreadable eyes. Jin picked up on his hint and threw him a challenging, arrogant look. “Something to say, old man?” he scoffed.

“You bet!” Rintarou said and suddenly got up, looking furious. He dashed to Jin and grabbed his collar. “Now you come up with this idiotic move? I should hit some sense into you!”

“Go on and try, you old fart,” Jin teased and shoved out his tongue. “Your son is gay,” he said, purposefully sounding as annoying as possible.

“Making fun of me and my manly way of raising you, are we? I’ll wipe that stupid grin off your face, you ungrateful little-” Jin’s father aimed a punch that Jin dodged easily.

“Getting rusty?” Jin asked cheerfully and teasingly moved his head away from another punch. “And I’m as manly as ever, it’s you who needs some masculinity.”

“I’ll show you!” Rintarou yelled and jumped against Jin, felling him to the ground. In ten seconds, the two men were wrestling and swearing on the floor, Jin’s father looking like he was giving his all whereas Jin was just laughing and mocking the older man.

Kazuya just stared at them with big eyes and wondered if Jin fought with everyone now that he was even having a fight with his own father. It was miles away from the interaction he himself always shared with his father, he wouldn’t even dream of hitting him. As the two seemed caught up in their brawl, Kazuya stepped back until he was standing in a doorway, wondering if he should be polite and let Jin’s father hit him if he got off the floor or if he should just run back to Jin’s car.

“Pie, darling?” Jin’s mother appeared beside Kazuya with a plate bigger than his head filled with all sorts of baked goods. She paid no attention to her son and husband rolling around on the floor.

“Thank you, it looks delicious,” Kazuya answered insecurely and reached out for the plate, “but... shouldn’t I leave?” he added and looked at the furious man that momentarily had Jin’s hands pinned to the floor.

“Oh, why?” Keiko asked in disappointment until she noticed Kazuya’s insecure glances towards her husband. “Oh, don’t be silly darling. You see, my husband never quite got over it when Jin became stronger than him so he likes to compete every time they meet. This time the fake reason my husband came up with was you. Those two rascals,” she laughed and gave the plate to Kazuya before launching forward. In a second the woman had taken a hold of both Jin’s and Rintarou’s ears.

“Now you two will stop it, Kazu-chan is scared!” she commanded and twisted the two men’s ears painfully.

“I’m sorry!” Jin and his father whimpered and bowed towards Kazuya as deep as they could with their ears in a firm grip. “That’s how it is, living with men,” Keiko said to Kazuya and smiled, looking like she had to separate Jin and Rintarou from a fight daily.

“Is that so,” Kazuya replied, having a hard time imagining even Ryo, who usually looked like a predator, to have fought with his family members in that manner.

“Go to sit at the table, I’m just about to put the lasagna in the oven,” Jin’s mum shooed all three men to sit at the dinner table. Once Kazuya had chosen his seat, Jin’s dad rushed to sit beside him before Jin could take the chair. Rintarou had plenty of time to do that, though, since Jin made a small visit to the fridge and came back with a pudding and a huge grin.

“So, son, are you good at sports?” he asked with a grin, not reaknowledging the fight that had occurred just seconds ago in any way or showing any signs that Kazuya’s relation to his son bothered him in any way.

“I used to play baseball up until a few years ago,” Kazuya answered hesitantly, hoping that Jin would come to his rescue. This was more or less the most uncomfortable situation he had ever been in and he had a feeling Jin was actually enjoying putting him through it.

“Good. Sports are good,” Rintarou said approvingly. “I’m a tough golfer myself,” he announced proudly. Jin bursted out laughing.

“Golf is the wussiest sport in the world, right after billiard.”

“Shut up you nosy glutton!” Jin’s dad shot back and turned to Kazuya with a smile. “It’s good to have a sportsman in the family,” he said and patted Kazuya fatherly on the shoulder. “That good-for-nothing son over there is so lazy you would have to promise him five cheeseburgers to get him off the couch.”

“Pizza would be a safer bet,” Kazuya let slip out before he could stop himself, suddenly finding the plate of pastries Jin’s mother had given him earlier very interesting.

Jin’s father guffawed and patted Kazuya’s shoulder a few times more. “Wonderful, wonderful. Is it hard to keep my son in order? I was never good at it, maybe that’s why he ended up like that.” Rintarou looked at Jin mockingly, enjoying the glare he got from his son.

“He’s not that bad,” Kazuya tried, “just a bit too hot-headed sometimes.”

“Coming from a family like this, it would be weirder if he wasn’t.” A girl Kazuya assumed was Jin’s little sister had appeared on the doorway with a book. She resembled Jin a lot, just younger and more feminine looks and with glasses, making her look smarter than her older brother.

“Oh, right,” Jin hurried to say with his mouth full of pudding. “That’s Nanami, but you probably got it already.”

Kazuya bowed in his chair in her direction and felt a bit more stupid every time he did it since no one else seemed to think there was a need for formalities. “Nice to meet you, I’m Kamenashi Kazuya,” he said.

“You look too smart to be hanging out with my brother,” she remarked coolly and walked to the fridge. She opened it and looked around for a minute before she slammed the door shut and turned to Jin, the smart expression turned into anger.

“JIN!”

“What?” the said man asked and put another spoonful of the pudding into his mouth.

“That’s my pudding!” Nanami yelled in rage.

“Oops,” Jin said with a hint of mockery and quickly ate the rest. “Sorry.” He grinned teasingly and barely dodged the book his sister threw at him.

“Idiot!” Nanami launched forward and tried to grab Jin but the man was faster. He jumped out of his chair and ran to the living room, the girl following him and trying to tackle him to the ground.

“It sure is lively again, having those two home,” Jin’s mother remarked as she placed a cup of tea in front of Kazuya. “Sugar or honey, darling?”

“Neither thank you,” Kazuya answered and leaned a little on his chair so he could watch where Jin had disappeared to, finding himself even more horrified by the thought of Jin fighting his sister than he had been with Jin fighting his father.

“And they’re supposed to be twenty five and twenty eight years old,” Jin’s dad sighed and shook his head.

“You’re not one to speak, silly. You’re fifty six and you still wrestle with your son,” Keiko lectured gently. “Thank you for looking after that goof,” she said to Kazuya and nodded towards Jin, who was circling around an armchair with Nanami close behind. “He’s like a dog, he needs someone to keep him in order.”

Nearly choking on his tea at Keiko’s last comment, Kazuya coughed and tried to nod at her before he fought some air into his lungs, “no it’s alright, I’m the one that causes most trouble. Really.”

“It’s a sign of a good man to be modest,” Rintarou said and nodded approvingly. Apparently he had already decided to like Kazuya and think of him as his other son, more honourable than Jin.

“Yes sir,” Kazuya said with a smile, only now daring to relax as they didn’t seem to be mad at him at all. In fact, they all seemed to be very nice people, even if they were really intense at times. He understood why Jin would’ve wanted him to give his father another chance now that Kazuya knew how Jin’s own family was, it was just that Kazuya’s father wasn’t anything like this at all.

-

“So, was it so bad?” Jin asked teasingly. They were lazily lying on his bed side by side on top of the bedcover back in his flat, after a lively dinner and a drive back home.

“No, it was fun... after I got over the shock of your dad throwing punches at you,” Kazuya scoffed, “I think your mother has killed me with all the food though.”

“My old man has a huge crisis, he’s getting old and weak,” Jin laughed, “and you didn’t even eat that much, even Nanami ate twice as much lasagna.”

“It wasn’t just the lasagna, it was all the cakes and pies and pastries. Finally I understand why you’re such a food freak,” Kazuya said and smiled widely at Jin.

“You’re now mixed into my freaky family life,” Jin teased. “Did you see my parents, they already treated you like their long lost son,“ he reached out and kissed Kazuya’s forehead.

Closing his eyes and humming in delight, Kazuya got a hold around Jin’s back and pulled him closer.

“It feels like it was ages since I could just fully relax. This was a good day,” Kazuya explained, “first getting my father back in line and then seeing the people that you’re raised by.”

Jin merely chuckled and kissed Kazuya sweetly. He turned on his back and pulled the boy on top of him with a smile.

“What? You’re tired, eaten too much?” Kazuya teased and planted kisses on Jin’s face as he did. 

“No, I’m still hungry,” Jin answered innocently before a playful smirk appeared on his face and he leaned up to whisper, “but not for food.”

“Oh?” Kazuya asked in feigned innocence, “you’re hopeless,” he added and brushed his fingers through Jin’s long and unruly hair before kissing him heatedly, moving so he ended up with his legs on each side of Jin’s. “Just don’t eat my entire neck like that other time,” Kazuya mumbled against Jin’s lips.

“I’ll try not to,” Jin answered with a smile and let his hands roam on Kazuya’s back and waist. He bit on the boy’s lip almost painfully before pushing powerfully against him, stealing Kazuya’s breath with his lips.

This earned him a growl from Kazuya, but the boy kissed him back and shivered as Jin’s hands moved over his clothes. “Easy,” he hissed out of breath as they broke away from each other for air.

Jin hummed and caught Kazuya’s lips again the moment he had managed to get some more air down his lungs. His hands grabbed Kazuya’s hips and brought him closer to his body, trapping Kazuya tight against him.

Encouraged by Jin’s hands, Kazuya let his own move away from Jin’s hair so they could slip underneath his shirt, moving over his tensed muscles. He hesitated for a moment before brushing over one of Jin’s nipples, nibbling at Jin’s lower lip as he did. Now that they had all the time in the world he found himself wanting to explore all of Jin, to make up for the fact that he hadn’t even noticed Jin’s scar before he was shown by the other.

Jin moaned and involuntarily raised his chest to meet Kazuya’s touch, his mouth getting hungrier as he slid his own hands under Kazuya’s shirt, caressing passionately every little inch of skin he could get under his palms. Before he knew it, Kazuya’s hands had left him and he had sat up on Jin, pulling his T-shirt over his head and then doing the same to Jin.

“Impatient?” Jin teased, eyes glistening as a small blush spread on his boyfriend's cheeks. He didn’t get much time for talking though because Kazuya leaned down again and kissed and bit his collarbone, moving slowly downwards, making him moan once more. Kazuya was completely engrossed in his new mission, touching Jin wherever he could reach with both his lips and his hands.

When he reached the waistline of Jin’s pants, Kazuya returned to Jin’s lips so he could work on getting rid of the pants, chuckling as Jin looked a bit lost in the sudden turn of events. Kazuya removed his own jeans too and crawled back on top of Jin, groaning when they pressed their groins together. Jin gasped as Kazuya rolled his hips and was soon lost in Kazuya’s touches as he was biting and kissing his ear.

“What’s this all about?” Jin asked when Kazuya’s lips left his earlobe and moved down to his neck.

“You don’t like it?” Kazuya retorted and rolled his hips again, challenging Jin. Instead of an answer he got another moan as Jin threw his arms around his back and turned them over so Jin ended up on top. “You’re getting pretty daring,” Jin huffed.

“Uhuh,” was all Kazuya could say because Jin gently bit one of his nipples, flicking it with his tongue. As Jin was busy with Kazuya’s sensitive skin, the younger man reached down and let his hand slid inside Jin’s boxers, gently brushing at the tip of his hard erection. The tip was slightly wet and the sift skin was so inviting that Kazuya let his hand wander downwards on it. A moment later he had curled his fingers around it and felt a shiver run down his spine as Jin moaned loudly and collapsed against him. He gave it a testing tug before he set a steady pace, encouraged by Jin’s fluttering lips on his neck.

The heat between them was starting to rise and Jin was starting to get a little sweaty as Kazuya kept moving his hand in a steady pace over Jin’s erection, pressing his own groin against one of Jin’s thighs that he had placed between his legs. Jin was slowly feeling his whole body unwind, and the pleasure he felt at Kazuya’s ministrations soon had him pushing into the moving hand.

“Kazuya...” he whispered and groaned when the grip around his cock got stronger and faster, “I want you, now,” he continued and attacked his boyfriend’s lips again, crushing their mouths together. Taking the hint, Kazuya pulled his hands out of the other’s boxers and started pulling them down instead, smiling into the kiss as Jin kicked them off the bed. After that Jin returned the favor and now they were both naked, panting as the pleasure got even more intense when their bare erections touched.

Jin let his hand wander down alongside Kazuya’s side, stopping at the hip to draw a circle there, making Kazuya moan before moving onwards. When he had reached knee, he took a hold of it and lifted Kazuya’s leg by it, doing the same with the other leg. He shivered in anticipation, seeing Kazuya open up in front of him like that and was just about to reach over to his bedside table when Kazuya held out the lube to him with a wry smile.

“You really are impatient tonight,” Jin stated but smiled back. He coated his fingers and traced the opening, gently rubbing it before letting first one, then two fingers sink in, already searching for the prostate. The preparation went a lot quicker this time, Kazuya was bucking his hips and moaning out loud, tossing his head and Jin couldn’t control his lust for much longer. Kazuya, who seemed to be one step ahead of him, gave him a condom and Jin rolled it on his erection before rolling over on his back.

“What? What are you doing?” Kazuya asked as he stared at Jin.

“I figured there was something you really wanted to do since you were so impatient,” Jin replied with a smirk, pulling at Kazuya’s arm. Hesitantly at first, as it was still pretty light outside and there was nothing to hide his inexperience, Kazuya straddled Jin. He unconsciously touched his own erection, making Jin groan at the sight, before holding Jin’s hard member with his hand and raising his hips over it.

“Take it slow,” Jin reminded his boyfriend who was now blushing and shivering in anticipation.

Doing as he was told, Kazuya let Jin’s erection poke his entrance, getting used to the feeling, before he moved down in it as slowly as he could. When he thought he couldn’t fit more of Jin inside of him, he suddenly found that blinding pleasure and threw his head back as he arched his back. Jin jerked his hips in want as Kazuya offered his whole body for Jin to look at, his tight abs, toned arms and slim waist, but even more so the mouth opened in pleasure. It only took Kazuya seconds before he started moving on Jin, up and down, making sure to always come down at the same angle so he could reach his prostate. 

Jin closed his eyes as the feeling of hot and tight walls surrounding his manhood became too much, he had to take a few calming breaths not to come right away when Kazuya groaned and came down a bit more powerful each time. He knew that it might sound trite in another person’s ears, but he needed to say what he felt, otherwise he would get crazy.

“I love you,” he panted and jerked his hips, making Kazuya shudder and moan his “I love you too,” back. They reached out for each other’s hands at the same time and laced their fingers together, Jin starting to move as well, so Kazuya, who was starting to shake a bit, wouldn’t have to tire himself out completely.

Moaning each other’s names they moved in sync, Kazuya riding Jin while Jin has bent his knees a little to give his hips some leverage. Pleasure was taking them both over completely as Jin reached out for Kazuya’s neglected erection and started to stroke it, feeling blood rush to his cock while his boyfriend cried out and arched his back. Jin was near, and he didn’t want Kazuya to be left hanging, so he increased the pace and the pressure he had on Kazuya’s member. Watching through lidded eyes, he saw Kazuya’s movement get a bit frantic before he shut his eyes and opened his mouth, moaning out Jin’s name before he came into Jin’s hand.

Jin, who was already on the edge, just had to feel Kazuya’s walls clench around him to come as well, buried in the warmth while rocking his hips. They were both too tired to talk, but Kazuya managed to collect some energy to lift his hips so Jin could slip out of him, then he collapsed at Jin’s side.

“As I thought, you liked that very much,” Jin chuckled a while later, when they both had calmed down from their highs and he had managed to clean them both up with a wet towel.

“It’s a secret though,” Kazuya answered and crawled closer to Jin as the other had put his arms around him. They stayed like that until the night turned dark and Jin loudly proclaimed that he was hungry again. It turned into a night of happy cooking, even happier eating and lazy touches and kisses in the kitchen as the weekend moved to its end.

-

She hated her sister, she was everything a woman wanted to be; successful, beautiful, rich and a person around whom men flocked. If she hadn’t been so damn curious about her, hoping that someday she’d crash and burn, come crawling to her little sister for help, then she’d never gone to the dinner. But she had gone, eaten and smiled, played the sweet little sister and laughed at all her big sister’s stories.

Repeating the night over and over again in her head, getting more and more irritated each time, the young woman stepped out into the chilly night from the underground subway stop and took a deep breath. The red wine she had with her dinner tasted sour in her mouth now, just a trace of the grilled meat lingering behind it. A few spoonfuls of ice cream would perhaps wash it away.

Her high heels clattered against the concrete sidewalk, the low and buzzing sound of city traffic comfortably settling in the background as she climbed a low hill up towards her home. The high apartment building rose above the rest of the houses in the area, proudly showing off its twenty floors filled with modern flats. Even if her sister had been extremely successful; so had she. It was perhaps her only comfort.

Not noticing how the lights were mysteriously out in the lobby, she walked in through the automatic glass doors after holding her card key up to a small pad on a pillar beside it. Her high heels clattered even more against the polished marble, glistening in the soft evening light, as she set course towards the elevators she could hardly make out in the dimly lit room. Her expensive high heels slipped a little against the slippery floor and it was then she heard it, soft footsteps behind her. Turning around in an instant, she had just enough time to spot a dark figure before something hit her in the head and the world turned white.

She wanted to run, to get into that elevator and get out of the strong grip she was in, but her head refused to cooperate, leaving her powerless. Her dizzy state made it hard for her to even locate herself, but she could after some desperate tries to focus on the world around her, make out the door that led to the laundry room.

“Where... why...?” she managed to mumble but got no answer from the person dragging her by her arms.

The cold floor flew by under her, only interrupted by a low threshold as they went through a doorway. A doorway she remembered went to the garbage room in the cellar underneath the entrance floor. Her vision had cleared now and she was just about to take control over her head again, to find out who was hovering above her, holding her by her arms, when she was brutally thrown over on her stomach and hit her jaw against the painted concrete. Letting out a pained sound as she had bitten herself in the cheek at the sudden impact, she tried to get her bearings in order and placed her elbows against the ground to heave herself off it. This was her chance.

This time without any warning at all, she was grabbed by her hair and she screamed out loud, hoping that someone somewhere might hear her. But she didn’t have a chance against the other person and she found herself getting dragged once more towards the end of the room.

When they reached a huge machine, neatly painted and polished bits of stainless steel, she gasped and felt panic surging through her body. “No, not that, not like this,” she pleaded but her attacker gave her no heed. She was held in front of a machine that the building’s caretaker proudly had showed her the week before; a garbage press.

An arm came out from the shadows and pressed a button, making the already humming device open up like a clam and she struggled for her life, screaming at the top of her lungs as she was half lifted, half shoved up and into it. She had to get out, she had to flee. But there wasn’t enough time, she wasn’t strong enough. With adrenaline pumping through her veins, she could only try to fight her attacker, but no matter how hard she fought she ended up shoved back against the wall of the garbage press and mere seconds later she watched the walls close around her. 

“NO! HELP!” she screamed again, fighting back the urge to cry. Her throat was so horribly dry and the only thing she could hear was the loud thumping of her heart, beating and beating in her chest. But no one came, her attacker didn’t budge. She could only wail and hit her fist against the closing shutter. She didn’t want to die like this.

The last light she saw was partially blocked by the dark figure, then the horrific pain ensued.

Her chest went before her skull, as it was wider, releasing her from her pain as her ribs collapsed in on her lungs and heart. The pain was gone and her life as well, long before her skull cracked. A dark figure enjoying the sound of death.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, drop some kudos, and subscribe to this work to get notifications of when I post the rest of the chapters 👍
> 
> Check out the character overview linked in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to connect with either or both of us on Twitter [@EmiLovesTaemin](https://twitter.com/EmiLovesTaemin) and [@RogueRika](https://twitter.com/RogueRika)✌️


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